Late replacement Bertens beats No.1 Barty at the WTA Finals

Alternate Kiki Bertens, who entered the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen draw earlier today when Naomi Osaka withdrew due to a right shoulder injury, victoriously opened her appearance at the prestigious $14,000,000 tournament by defeating world No.1 Ashleigh Barty in the Red Group.

The 27-year-old Bertens, looking great in Fila’s new Heritage collection, held serve only once in the opening set and then twice trailed by a break in the second set, at 2-1 and 3-2, when Barty started playing poorly and lost eight games in a row to allow her opponent to lead 4-0 in the decider. After seven deuces, Barty finally held serve and started her recovery, approaching Bertens to 4-5. The Dutchwoman, though,…