Ashleigh Barty keeps winning as Naomi Osaka goes out in Birmingham
Ashleigh Barty must win Birmingham title to be crowned new No 1
Thursday 20 June 2019 23:42, UK
French Open champion Ashleigh Barty made it nine victories in a row to ease into the quarter-finals of the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham as world No 1 Naomi Osaka suffered a shock exit.
The rain, which delayed the start of the match and then interrupted proceedings again early in the second set, was the only thing to hold up the second seed in a 6-3 6-1 victory over Jennifer Brady.
American Brady has been in good form, reaching the semi-finals in Nottingham last week, but she was no match for Barty.
Barty will finish the week ranked world No 1 if she wins the title after Osaka suffered a disappointing loss to Yulia Putintseva.
Osaka, who needed to reach the final to guarantee holding onto top spot, does not feel particularly comfortable on grass and looked out of sorts throughout a 6-2 6-3 defeat.
Putintseva was 5-0 up before Osaka won a game. The Japanese star threatened a comeback on a couple of occasions but there were simply too many errors coming off her racket and a final drop shot from Putintseva gave her the best win of her career.
Venus Williams eased past Qiang Wang 6-3 6-2 to set up a meeting with Barty, while eighth seed Julia Goerges beat Evgeniya Rodina 6-4 6-3.
Kerber gets the better of Sharapova
Elsewhere, top seed Angelique Kerber defeated Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-3 in a meeting of two Wimbledon champions in the second round at the Mallorca Open.
Germany's Kerber, who will arrive at Wimbledon as reigning champion, proved too solid for 2004 champion Sharapova as her comeback from right shoulder surgery in February was cut short.
Kerber's clay court season had been impacted by an ankle injury and she lost in the first round of the French Open but the 31-year-old German dominated world No 85 Sharapova for her fourth successive win over the five-times Grand Slam champion.
The three-time Grand Slam champion will next meet France's Caroline Garcia, who won the title at Nottingham last week, after the sixth seed overcame Spain's Paula Badosa 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 6-3.
American teenager Amanda Anisimova, who reached the French Open semi-finals this month, eased past Alize Cornet 6-2 6-4.
The 17-year-old American will next face third seed Belinda Bencic, who also sealed her place in the quarter-finals when American opponent Shelby Rogers had to retire with an injury, with the Swiss leading 5-7 6-3 3-1.
