American defeats Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in quarter-finals in Melbourne and next faces Petra Kvitova
Tuesday 22 January 2019 09:50, UK
American Danielle Collins continued her remarkable Grand Slam breakthrough by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her first semi-final at the Australian Open.
The unseeded 25-year-old arrived at Melbourne Park having never won a match in the main draw of a major but recovered from a set down to win 2-6 7-5 6-1 in two hours and 16 minutes.
This was a meeting between two players looking to make the last four at a major for the first time, but it was Collins who swept through the third set, clinching her third match point when Pavlyuchenkova missed a forehand.
Collins will face Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova who brushed aside the challenge of home hope Ash Barty 6-1 6-4.
Barty was the first Australian woman to reach the last eight for 10 years and there was optimism she could become the first home winner since Chris O'Neil in 1978, but Kvitova was in devastating form.
The Czech has not lost more than five games in any of her matches so far and is through to the last four at a Grand Slam for the first time since winning her second Wimbledon title in 2014 and a little over two years after fearing she might never play again when she was stabbed in the hand by an intruder at her home.
Kvitova's victory, meanwhile, ensures Simona Halep will be replaced as world No 1, although Naomi Osaka, Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina are also in the frame.
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