Madrid Open | Barty overcomes a fighting Kvitova to make the semifinals

World No.1 Ashleigh Barty, chasing her fourth singles title of the year, will take on Paula Badosa in the semifinals of the Madrid Open after getting past two-time winner Petra Kvitova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday.

Wild card Badosa became the first Spanish woman in the tournament’s 12-year history to make the last four with her 6-4, 7-5 win over eighth seed Belinda Bencic.

In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal began his bid for a sixth Madrid Open title, easing past 18-year-old comaptriot Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 6-2 to reach the last 16.

Ranked 120 in the world, Alcaraz battled bravely and even broke Nadal’s serve in the second set but was predictably overwhelmed by one of the game’s greats in a match that lasted one hour and 17 minutes.

Second seed Daniil Medvedev, returning to the circuit afer testing positive for COVID-19 in mid-April, picked up his first win on clay for two years when he came back from a set down to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Fifth seed Alexander Zverev swept past Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2, while Diego Schwartzman was dumped out by Aslan Karatsev 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Looking fresh again after taking a few weeks off, U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem cruised into the third round with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win over American Marcos Giron on Tuesday.

Important results:

Women: Quarterfinals: Ashleigh Barty bt Petra Kvitova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; Paula Badosa bt Belinda Bencic 6-4, 7-5.

Third round: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt Jennifer Brady 7-5, 6-7(8), 6-3; Karolina Muchova bt Maria Sakkari 6-0, 6-7(9), 7-5.

Men: Second round: Alexander Zverev bt Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2; Aslan Karatsev bt Diego Schwartzman 2-6, 6-4, 6-1; Christian Garin bt Dominik Koepfer 6-3, 6-4; Daniil Medvedev bt Alejandro Davidovich 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Rafael Nadal bt Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 6-2; Cristian Garin bt Dominik Koepfer 6-3, 6-4; Dominic Thiem bt Marcos Giron 6-1, 6-3.;Alex de Minaur bt Lloyd Harris (RSA) 6-2, 3-0 retd.; Matteo Berrettini bt Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4.