Barty, Keys to meet in Australian Open semis

Top seed Ashleigh Barty needed just 63 minutes to defeat No. 21 seed Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-0 to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.

It will be the fourth Grand Slam semifinal for Barty, who is attempting to become the first Australian woman to win her home-country major since Chris O’neil did it in 1978. Barty has two Grand Slam titles to her credit, winning the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2021.

She has dropped just 17 games in five matches.

Next up for Barty is another American, Madison Keys, who defeated No.4 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2 in their quarter-final match.

The first set Tuesday was sloppy by Barty standards as the world No. 1 committed 16 unforced errors against eight winners. Pegula couldn’t take advantage, though, hitting just two winners and making 14 unforced errors.

Barty said her ability to adapt and execute have led her to this point.

“I’m just having fun, to be honest,” she said. “I’m having fun trying to problem solve out on the court, and each and every opponent has been different.

“Each and every opponent has presented me with a different challenge and forced me to use another tool in my toolbox.”

She’ll have the chance to employ that strategy when she meets Keys, against whom she has won two of their three career matches.

Keys fought off the sweltering heat to defeat Krejcikova, the reigning French Open champion, in 85 minutes. She hit 27 winners — 11 of them aces .

She is into the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the fifth time, including in Melbourne in 2015.

“I think I played a pretty solid match today,” Keys said after the match.

“Just so happy to be back in the semifinals here for the first time in a long time.”