Ash Barty beats Petra Kvitova with 15th straight red clay court win

Ash Barty has claimed her incredible 15th straight win on clay dating back to the start of the 2019 French Open, beating Czech World No. 12 Petra Kvitova in the Madrid Open quarterfinals.

Kvitova has won the tournament three times in her career but the Aussie World No. 1 claimed a 6-1 3-6 6-3 win to set up a clash with local hero Paula Badosa.

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A wildcard entry and World No. 62, Badosa became the first Spanish player to make the Madrid Open semi-finals with a 6-4 7-5 win over No. 8 seed Belinda Bencic.

But Barty again claimed a three-setter over Kvitova to make the semis as she looks for a fourth title of the year.

While Barty got off to another flyer, Kvitova came back but the World No. 1 showed her mental toughness to bounce back, with her record in three-set matches improving to 10-1 for the year.

Barty has had the wood over Kvitova in recent times, having claimed five of the last six matches between the women.

Barty’s first service game went to a deuce but had the break in the next game after Kvitova struggled to get her serve going.

Starting the first service game with two double faults, Kvitova lost the game to love.

Incredibly Barty went up 5-0 against the world No. 12 in no time.

But she did still have a hilarious point against her on the first point of the sixth game when Barty lost the ball in the sun.

After building into the point, Kvitova threw up a Hail Mary, lobbing the ball up into the sky after Barty stretched her wide on the baseline.

While it looked to be an easy smash, the ball went up pretty high with Barty losing the ball after it bounced high and just limply letting the ball bounce again.

She took it in good humour, losing point and ultimately the game to love.

But she served out the set 6-1 in just 25 minutes.

As has become a trend for Barty, particularly in Stuttgart where she won her final three matches and the title after losing the first set, the World No. 1 had a stumble as Kvitova ran out to 3-0 in the second.

Kvitova ran away with the second 6-3 but Barty then changed the momentum in the third, running out to a 3-0 lead with the early break.

But the twists weren’t done as Kvitova broke back in unlucky circumstances for Barty.

Up 3-1 but down 0-15, Barty had to run in after Kvitova only just got a shot back over the next with the Aussie coming in for the slam at the net.

Only she over balanced and touched the net losing the point.

Kvitova then won the game, with the commentators calling it “another plot twist”.

The third set was full of twists as the match went on breaks during the middle of the set.

In the seventh game of the set, Kvitova had two break points to bring the match back on serve but Barty forced a deuce before winning the game.

She ultimately served out the match.

“It was an incredibly match,” Barty said after the match. “We always have very good battles. I enjoy myself a lot and like always, she makes me play my best tennis when it really counts and another great match for the both of us today.”

As for Badosa, Barty lost the pair’s only previous match with Badosa claiming a straight sets win in Charleston — on green clay — in early April.

“We played a couple of weeks ago and she played a great match, so it’s time for me to try and change the result,” Barty said. “I’m very excited to be in the semi-finals here in Madrid and get another opportunity to play on this court and play a girl who’s playing some great tennis, is confident, takes the game one, is aggressive — it’s going to be exciting.”