Barty and Sasnovich reach Sydney semifinals

Australia's Ashleigh Barty followed up her giant-killing wins over world No 1 Simona Halep and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko by easily accounting for 10th seeded Belgian Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3 at the Sydney International on Thursday.

The 22-year-old is now on a six-match win streak, dating back to her career's biggest title at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai.

"Nice and solid today, I was pretty happy at the way I was able to come out and play," said Barty, ranked 15 in the world. She will play either seventh seed Kiki Bertens or Yulia Putintseva, who beat Sloane Stephens in round two, for a place in the final.

The first woman to book a semi spot was Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who beat Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky – on the comeback trail after a 14-month winless spell – 6-3, 6-3.

But she has a daunting task ahead, playing either world No 2 and defending champion Angelique Kerber or fifth seed and 2015 Sydney winner Petra Kvitova, who meet in a match headlining Thursday's night session.

In 12 meetings on tour, Kerber and Kvitova have won six each and split their two meetings in 2018.