Australian Ash Barty has progressed to the Madrid Open final with a straight-sets victory over Spanish wildcard Paula Badosa.
The 25-year-old Queenslander claimed a 6-4 6-3 win to continue her good form through the start of 2021.
Badosa is the only player to beat Barty since February after downing the Australian in the Charleston Open quarter-finals last month.
Barty did not have things all her own way in the opening set but world No.1 made her move in the 10th game.
Badosa saved two set points but surrendered the service break and the opening set with an untimely double-fault.
The two players traded service breaks early in the second set but Barty took a commanding 4-1 lead after a tense battle to hold her serve in the fifth game.
The in-form Aussie kept the momentum to seal her 16th consecutive victory on clay and book a showdown against Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
Belarus' Sabalenka took care of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-3 to book her place in the deciding match.
Barty defeated Sabalenka in the final of the Stuttgart Open a fortnight ago to clinch her third title of the 2021 season after also winning the Miami Open and the Yarra Valley Classic.
