Miami Open: Ashleigh Barty faces Bianca Andreescu for first time as top seed bids to defend title

Ashleigh Barty will defend her Miami Open title against Bianca Andreescu with the pair meeting for the very first time in a competitive match on Saturday; "I haven't played her before, haven't hit with her. It's a fresh one for both of us," said No 1 Barty

Image: Australia's Ashleigh Barty will defend her Miami Open crown against Bianca Andreescu on Saturday

Top seed Ashleigh Barty earned the right to defend her Miami Open title when she goes up against Bianca Andreescu in a mouth-watering first career meeting between the Grand Slam winners.

Barty eased past Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-3 and into Saturday's final, while Andreescu saw off Maria Sakkari 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) in a match lasting two hours and 42 minutes.

World No 1 Barty battled a suspected abdominal injury to beat Svitolina for just the second time and move closer to retaining her crown in Florida.

Australia's Barty has been No 1 since September 2019, and had already held onto top spot in the rankings after Naomi Osaka's Miami exit earlier this week.

Image: Bianca Andreescu came through a titanic struggle against Maria Sakkari

Andreescu will take on Barty for the first time on Saturday after battling past Greek star Sakkari in a match that ended at 1.35am local time.

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The 20-year-old advanced to her first final since winning the 2019 US Open where she will be seeking her fourth career title after a knee injury at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen caused her to miss the entire 2020 tennis season.

Barty said the Canadian had an all-round game that made facing her "exceptionally challenging".

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"I haven't played her before, haven't hit with her. It's a fresh one for both of us. But she's proven time and time again that she loves the big matches, loves the big tournaments, and has the game and the physicality to win them," said the 2019 French Open winner.

She continued: "Bianca has shown in big tournaments that she's got the ability to beat the very best, and I know from the little that I have seen that she's got a way of moving around the court that's extremely physical.

"She's got great hands and she's got options off both sides. She's got a chisel off both sides and has the ability to flip the ball up or hit through the court. I think that's what makes her game exceptionally challenging is that she has so many different assets and so many different things that she can go to to ultimately let her competitor in her figure it out."

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Andreescu said she has wanted to play Barty for a long time and was glad to finally have her chance.

"Her being number one and her doing really, really well. Her game style, as well. It's something I have never really experienced," Andreescu said.

"I love a challenge, and I know she's going to challenge me on Saturday."

The men's draw is guaranteed a first-time ATP Masters 1000 champion on Sunday with Roberto Bautista Agut facing Italian teenager Jannik Sinner in the first semi-final on Friday, while Andrey Rublev goes up against Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.

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