Barty battles past Martic in Wuhan
Ashleigh Barty overcame a stern challenge from Petra Martic to reach the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open for the third year in a row.
The world number one was made to work hard for her 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-3 victory, which set up a last-four clash with reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Martic made life tough for the Australian and even shrugged off the disappointment of a first-set tie-break loss to win the second set.
It was in that set that Martic produced some of her best tennis, the Croatian tallying just four unforced errors in a demonstration of clean hitting.
However, when it came to the decider it was Barty who upped her level, dictating rallies with a potent mixture of power and precision.
She will face Sabalenka after the Belarusian also needed three sets to get past Elena Rybakina, triumphing 6-3 1-6 6-1.
Fellow seed Petra Kvitova enjoyed more serene progress in her straight-sets win over Dayana Yastremska.
But there was a shock in store for the third-ranked Elina Svitolina, who lost to Alison Riske in a surprisingly one-sided encounter.
