Barty fights back to seal spot in round of 16
Australian tennis star Ash Barty prevailed in a wildly contrasting round two clash against American Danielle Collins 6-1,1-6, 6-1 to advance to the last 16 of the Madrid Open.
Fresh from dismantling compatriot Daria Gavrilova in straight sets to open her tournament, Barty continued that strong form in the first set against Collins, racing to a 6-1 lead.
But the Australian Open finalist came back strongly in the second, rattling off five straight games to close out the second in much the same way as the Australian had the first.
Barty raced to a 3-0 lead to open the third, before holding her nerve to close out the match - the 23 year-old's tenth win in a row dating back to the beginning of the Miami Open - and set up a lat-16 clash against Yulia Putintseva, who beat Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 earlier in the day.
Barty defeated the Frenchwoman 6-1, 6-4 in their only previous encounter, at the quarter-finals of the Strasbourg Open last year.
In the day's other matches, defending champion Petra Kvitova prevailed over Kristina Mladenovic 6-3 7-6 (7-5) to keep her quest for a fourth Madrid title on track.
Seventh seed Kiki Bertens defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 6-3 and eighth-seeded Sloane Stephens, fresh from announcing her engagement to MLS star Jozy Altidore, downed Victoria Azarenka 6-4 2-6 6-2.
