Petra Kvitova overcomes tenacious Ashleigh Barty to set up Aryna Sabalenka final in Doha

Petra Kvitova ended a run of four straight losses to Ashleigh Barty, including a quarter-final exit at last month's Australian Open, to reach her 37th WTA career final.

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Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova in action during her semi final match against Australia’s Ashleigh Barty (Source: Reuters)

Czech Petra Kvitova edged a seesaw battle with Australian world number one Ashleigh Barty 6-4 2-6 6-4 at the Qatar Open on Friday to set up a title clash against Aryna Sabalenka in Doha.

Belarussian Sabalenka advanced to the 10th WTA final of her career with an impressive 6-4 6-3 victory over former world number two Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.

Kvitova ended a run of four straight losses to Barty, including a quarter-final exit at last month’s Australian Open, to reach her 37th WTA career final.

Having exchanged breaks in the first three games of the semi-final, Kvitova settled down to build a 3-1 lead before fending off a couple of break points to claim the opening set.

Maybe the point of the match!!! And what a match!!!@Petra_Kvitova #QTO2020 pic.twitter.com/ehDMTB7Ibm

— WTA (@WTA) February 28, 2020

Barty roared back in the second set, dropping just four points on her first serve and converting two break points to force a decider.

Despite conceding an early break, 2018 Doha champion Kvitova held her nerve to record her sixth career victory over an opponent ranked world number one.

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Sabalenka attacked Kuznetsova’s serve with power and precision to earn three breaks in the opening set.

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The ninth seed pressed home her advantage by winning the opening three games of the second set before serving out the match with a blistering forehand winner.