Goerges marches past Barty into Birmingham quarterfinals

BIRMINGHAM, Great Britain - No.5 seed Julia Goerges outplayed last year’s finalist Ashleigh Barty in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals at the Nature Valley Classic.

Coming straight from Nottingham after lifting the Nature Valley Open trophy, Barty didn’t seem to have enough in the tank during the big moments, and Goerges triumphed 7-6(6), 6-3 in an hour and 35 minutes.

“I’m very satisfied with my performance today, I think the first set was a very high quality,” Goerges said in her on-court interview. “I know she’s just won a title and she’s a very, very talented and dangerous player who has a bright future. So of course I’m so happy to be through.”

Barty will rue her missed opportunities in the opening set - after trading breaks with Goerges in a tight set, she let four set points slip by across three games and another three in the tiebreak. Goerges held firm under the Aussie’s assault, converting on her first chance to steal away the set.

It was one-way traffic in the third, Goerges grabbing an early break to get ahead 3-0, and holding onto the lead to close out the set.

“I don’t know how many set points she had, but I think it was very important for me to win that first set somehow,” Goerges said. “I think she started to think about not taking her chances and I got a little bit of extra air.

“My serve was a very big key today and it helped me a lot in the big moments. Until last year, I didn’t win a grass court match in five years, so maybe I’ve changed my opinion about grass now. But my serve has always been a weapon, and I’ve been working a lot on it.”

The German’s aggressive attacking smothered Barty’s game, with Goerges firing 42 winners past her and striking just 25 unforced errors. She kept Barty contained to just 13 winners to seven errors, and Goerges’ 12 aces gave her plenty of free points.

Goerges will face an even bigger challenge on grass court: she takes on Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals, after the Czech edged Daria Gavrilova 6-2, 6-2 earlier in the day.

“I’m very happy that I’m playing these types of tough opponents on grass right away - it’s a really good preparation for Wimbledon. I’m going to do my best in every match and hope it goes well.”