Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Barty beats Svitolina in birthday comeback to reach final

TENNIS-GER-WTA-WOMEN

Australia’s Ashleigh Barty holds a bouquet of flowers she got as a birthday present after she won the singles semi-final match against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina (not in the picture) of the Women’s Tennis Grand Prix WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, on April 24, 2021. (Photo by Marijan Murat / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MARIJAN MURAT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

STUTTGART, Germany -- Top-ranked Ash Barty celebrated her birthday on Saturday by coming back from a set down to beat the fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 and book her place in the Porsche Grand Prix final.

The new 25-year-old Barty clicked from the second set, when Svitolina was unable to serve out the match at 5-4. Barty was down 4-2 in the tiebreaker but fought back again. The Australian converted four of her 10 break point opportunities to win in just over two hours.

Barty will play Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday’s final as she bids for her first clay title since the 2019 French Open.

Sabalenka defeated the second-seeded Simona Halep 6-3, 6-2 in the second semifinal. The Belarusian saved all three break points she faced and converted three of her own nine opportunities to win in just over an hour.