In her first match at this year’s Miami Open, Ash Barty was one point from elimination. Now she’s one win from becoming a repeat champion.

The top-ranked Barty returned to the final by beating No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3.

Barty has gained momentum after starting the tournament by saving a match point against qualifier Kristina Kucova. That was Barty’s first match outside her native Australia since February 2020.

“Whenever you come back from a match point, it’s a little bit of a strange feeling,” she said. “You have to be more open with what the possibilities the rest of the tournament could be, and keep going out there and keep fighting, knowing you could have just as easily been out of the tournament.”

Barty will compete for the title on Saturday against No. 8 Bianca Andreescu, who swept the final four games to beat No. 23 Maria Sakkari 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (4) in a match that ended at 1:35 a.m.

The 20-year-old Andreescu improved to 7-1 this year in three-set matches. She advanced to her first final since winning the 2019 U.S. Open, and seeks her fourth career title after sitting out all of 2020 because of injury and the coronavirus pandemic.

On the men’s side, unseeded 20-year-old Sebastian Korda’s breakthrough run ended with a quarterfinal loss to No. 4 Andrey Rublev, 7-5, 7-6 (7). Korda, slowed in the second set by a left thigh injury, was the youngest American to make the men’s quarterfinals in Miami since Robbie Ginepri in 2003.