Top seed Ashleigh Barty has eased into the semi-finals of the Nottingham Open with a comfortable 6-0 6-2 victory against British wildcard Katie Boulter.
Boulter, who put out Barty’s compatriot Samantha Stosur on the way to the last eight, was no match for the Australian No.1, who fired down 11 aces over the course of her solid 59-minute victory.
Barty’s win at the English grasscourt tournament has set up a testing clash against Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who brushed aside Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-4 6-1 in a little over an hour.
“We had a great match at the Australian Open this year where she got the better of me,” world No.17 Barty said of Osaka.
“She’s a very big, powerful player with a great serve and a great first ball behind her serve.
“I think I’m going to have to use a lot of variety to try and extend those points and get into the points.”
Home favourite Johanna Konta eased to a 6-4 6-2 win over Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic to tee-up a repeat of last year’s thrilling final with Donna Vekic, who ran out a routine 7-5 6-1 victor over German Mona Berthel, in Saturday’s semi-finals.