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Stuttgart (dpa) - On her 25th birthday, the world number one Ashleigh Barty was able to look forward to the final at the tennis tournament in Stuttgart.
The top seed from Australia won a hard-fought semi-final against Ukrainian Jelina Switolina 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 2 on Saturday.
Barty is taking part in the most important German women's tennis event for the first time and is now playing for the title on Sunday against the Romanian Wimbledon winner Simona Halep or Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.
«I love to play tennis.
I love to compete, and on my birthday it's even more special, "said the 2019 French Open winner. In front of the empty ranks due to corona, she received a big, colorful one after her victory from tournament director Markus Günthart and sporting director Anke Huber A bouquet of flowers was presented, the happy birthday song was recorded.
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In the 2:05 hour long match, the favorite against Switolina had problems, also because the fifth in the world rankings initially served brilliantly.
The game remained balanced until the 3: 3, then Switolina secured the first break, she did not allow anything in her own service games and could not be taken away from the first set.
«Jelina played an incredible first set.
It served exceptionally well, "said Barty appreciatively.
That changed a little in the second sentence.
But Barty initially restored a 4: 2 lead, Switolina hit the final at 5: 4.
But as in the quarter-finals against the Czech Karolina Pliskova, Barty freed himself from such a pressure situation.
The German number one and two-time Stuttgart winner Angelique Kerber was eliminated in the round of 16 despite a strong performance against Switolina in two sets.
Even in the quarter-finals of the indoor tournament, which was endowed with 456,073 euros, none of the eight German participants was there any longer.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210424-99-338414 / 3
Tournament tableau
World ranking
Barty and Switolina in direct comparison