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Top seed Ashleigh Barty crushes Jessica Pegula to make Australian Open semis

Team MVR

Ashleigh Barty accelerated her march towards a maiden Australian Open title on Tuesday with a straight-sets masterclass against Jessica Pegula, setting up a semi-final with Madison Keys.

The single-minded world number one dismantled the 21st-seeded American 6-2, 6-0 in 63 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to power into the last four at Melbourne Park for only the second time.

She will face the unseeded Keys for a place in Saturday’s final after the American, ranked 51, upset French Open champion and fourth seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2.

Keys is into her fifth Grand Slam semi-final and her first in Melbourne since 2015.

But she faces a huge task against the top seed who is edging closer to becoming the first Australian woman to win her home Grand Slam since Chris O’Neill in 1978.

“That was solid tonight. I had a lot of fun out here. I was able to serve and find a lot of forehands in the centre of the court and I was happy to take the game on,” said Barty.

“I’ve grown as a person, I’ve grown as a player, I feel I am a more complete tennis player,” she added, referring to her first semi-final on home soil in 2020.

“I’ve obviously got a few more years experience under my belt in handling different situations and being able to problem-solve out on court.”

The current Wimbledon champion has yet to drop a set and has only given up 17 games in her five matches at Melbourne Park.