She is the first Australian woman through to the Australian Open semifinals at Melbourne Park with a straight-sets win over Petra Kvitova at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday.

Barty survived a set point in a torrid opening stanza before streaking away in the second set to win 7-6(6) 6-2, her ninth straight match victory and 100th career victory on hard courts.

After losing her first four meetings with the Czech, Barty has now won her most recent four to tie the head-to-head series.

The victory also served as revenge for her 6-1 6-4 loss to Kvitova at the same stage of the Australian Open last year.

This time around, however, the match was played in the warmth of the afternoon sun, as opposed to the heavier, cooler conditions under lights that were a feature of their clash 12 years ago.

And Barty thrived in this setting, working points with her heavy forehand and versatile slice backhand to put Kvitova in uncomfortable positions.

It wasn’t long into the match where Kvitova had already notched an unforced error count in the double-digits. But in game seven, she made a move to truly challenge Barty.

Teeing off successfully on her big groundstrokes, she moved ahead 0-40 — before Barty returned scores to deuce — and earned a further two break points in an increasingly epic game.

Yet Barty saved the fifth with a magnificent point ending with an inside-out forehand winner, and kept her nose in front.

Barty was again forced to fight her way out of trouble when Kvitova surged ahead 15-40 in the 11th game; unforced errors ultimately hurt the Czech.

And in the subsequent tiebreak, it was again Barty’s fighting, scrapping qualities that kept her alive.

Initially down 3-1, she played incredible defence to keep a rally alive that Kvitova would have won against almost any opponent, and levelled scores at 3-3.

Kvitova earned a set point at 6-5 thanks to a huge first serve, but from this point Barty played measured, composed, solid tennis, outlasting Kvitova in a probing rally to win her third point in a row — and with it, the set.

It was a huge moment. And both women knew it.

From this point, Barty freed up, and Kvitova faded.

The Australian broke in the first game of the second set, extended her lead to 3-0 with a delightful backhand slice lob winner, and soon led 4-0 after Kvitova’s game became littered with errors.

The two-time Wimbledon champ narrowed the gap to 4-2 when she briefly found her range, but Barty wrested the momentum back in the seventh game to earn an opportunity to serve for the match.

Down 15-40, Barty’s serve rose to the occasion; on the next four points, she conjured two aces and a service winner to seal victory.

Tennis Australia