By: Mike McIntyre
Photos: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
Quarterfinal action at the Sydney International on Thursday saw the draw taken down to the final four players. Australia's Daria Gavrilova had already received a walkover in her match from an injured Garbine Muguruza. She will face another Aussie in Ashleigh Barty which will give the locals a guaranteed player in the finals to cheer for. Barty has been on a roll this event and has yet to drop set. She dispatched Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-2 to advance.
Angelique Kerber continued her impressive return to form with a 6-3, 6-1 win over 2014 Aussie Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova. It was Kerber's first straight set win of the tournament and she now stands at 7-0 on the year in singles competition between Sydney and the Hopman Cup.
The biggest surprised semifinalist must surely be Italy's Camila Giorgi who quickly got rid of the favored Aga Radwanska 6-1, 6-2. There might be something about Giorgi and the early part of the season as she started 2017 making the semi-finals in Shenzhen. She then failed to make it past the quarterfinals of any WTA events for the rest of the year. She has now won five straight matches in Sydney including the qualifying draw.
The semifinals then are set with Gavrilova vs Barty (1-1 career head-to-head) in the top half and Giorgi and Kerber (2-0 career head-to-head in favor of the German) in the bottom. Former World No. 1 Kerber now looks like the favorite between the four given her past accolades and recent return to form. The photo below captures her fighting spirit in 2018 as shot by the wonderful jimmie48.
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