Wuhan win gets Barty in party mood; early ouster for Tsitsipas

Ashleigh Barty marched into her sixth semi-final of the season Thursday, describing her victory over Petra Martic in Wuhan as one of the best matches she’s played in recent times.

The world number one impressed in a highly-entertaining quarter-final that saw her fire 39 winners en route to a 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-3 win against Martic.

Barty now gets a shot at revenge when she takes on powerful Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka on Friday in a rematch of their Wuhan semi-final last year.

Against Martic, Barty fell behind early in the first and third sets, but retaliated with some creative shot-making to reach the last four for a third year in a row.

“I think that was a very, very high-quality match. I think that was probably one of the better matches that I’ve played in recent times,” said the reigning French Open champion. Martic, the world number 22 from Croatia, had not lost a three-setter since March, but saw her streak of 16 on the trot snapped by the relentless Barty.

Sabalenka, the defending champion and seeded nine this week, overcame a second-set dip to halt the inspired run of Kazakh wildcard Elena Rybakina 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 on Thursday. The 21-year-old is tied at 2-2 head-to-head with Barty.

Meanwhile, struggling top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas quit his opening match at the Zhuhai Championships on Thursday after calling a medical time-out before the deciding set.

The 21-year-old Greek was the strong favourite against unseeded Adrian Mannarino of France and took the first set 6-3 in southern China. But he appeared to labour badly after that, bending over several times on court and putting his hands on his knees. He was far from his best as he lost the second set 7-5, and retired soon after, looking red in the face and burying his head in his hands.

Australian Nick Kyrgios received a suspended 16-week ban from the ATP on Thursday and was placed on probation for six months for “aggravated behaviour” following a number of on-court outbursts over the past year.

The suspension is deferred pending Kyrgios’ compliance with several strict conditions mandated by the ATP, which include seeking additional support from a specialist in behavioural management during the off-season.

“The suspension will be lifted at the end of the six-month probationary period provided that the above conditions are met,” the ATP said in a statement. It added the same applied to a $25,000 fine.

Tour organisers opened an investigation into Kyrgios following an explosive meltdown at last month’s Cincinnati Masters which saw him smash two racquets, launch an abusive tirade at the chair umpire before appearing to spit at the official during a second-round match.

He was fined $113,000 for ball abuse, leaving the court without permission, an audible obscenity and unsportsmanlike conduct during his loss to Russia’s Karen Khachanov. But the ATP decided to extend the inquiry into the volatile Kyrgios, who was also disqualified and fined for throwing a chair on to court during the Rome Masters in May.

“The investigation... has concluded that Kyrgios has been found to have committed aggravated behaviour under the Player Major Offense provision in the ATP Code,” the governing body said on Thursday.

“The investigation found a pattern of behaviour related to Kyrgios’s verbal abuse of officials and/or spectators in the past 12 months that constitutes a violation” of the ATP rule book, it added.

Kyrgios, 24, has five days to appeal the decision.

Agence France-Presse