Australia’s Ash Barty is through to the last eight of Wimbledon for the first time in her career after overcoming Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets.
The 25-year-old was forced to dig deep throughout her 7-5, 6-3, triumph on Court One at The All England Club. It was the first time Barty had ever played Krejcikova on the Tour and it took her a few games to work out how to tame her opponent’s game. Eventually she prevailed with the help of seven aces and 21 winners to become the first Australian woman to reach the quarter-finals since Jelena Dokic in 2000.
“It was an incredibly tough match. Barbora has had an incredible year, she has been one of the toughest players to beat,” Barty said during her on-court interview. “I was excited for the challenge today and I’m just happy to come through. I found some good stuff when I needed it the most which was great.”
The showdown was a far from easy encounter for Barty. Coming into the match French Open champion Krejcikova was on a 15-match winning streak and didn’t look to be intimidated by playing the top seed. Even though this year is the first time the Czech has played in the main draw of the tournament as a singles player.
Falling behind 1-3, Barty valiantly battled back as she began to find more rhythm in her game. Although how she broke back was thanks to Krejcikova who produced back-to-back unforced errors which enabled the Australian to draw level at 4-4. Two games later she had her first set point opportunity but failed to convert. Barty would eventually secure her breakthrough whilst leading 6-5 as she started to mix up her game to draw errors from across the court. A backhand slice landed on the baseline which forced Krejcikova to hit the ball out and handed the world No.1 three more set points. She prevailed on the first of those three chances after another backhand slice caught her opponent off guard.
Contending with some spirited play coming from across the court, Barty continued to be involved in a roller-coaster battle. Six games into the second set she looked to be on the verge of victory after breaking for a 4-2 lead thanks to clever tactical play. However, Krejcikova wasn’t prepared to go down without a fight as she began to dictate the rallies before retrieving the break straight away.
Despite the blip, Barty restored her lead once again as she moved to a game away from victory. Serving for her 32nd win of the season she closed the match out with an ace down the centre of the court.
“I get all my confidence from my team through all the work we do behind the scenes and on the court,” she said. “This is the fun part where I get to come out here (Wimbledon) and enjoy myself as much as it’s frustrating at times. I love coming out and testing myself against the best in the world and there is certainly no other place I would rather be at the moment.”
This week Barty is also trying to keep hold of her world No.1 status. The only way she can lose it is if she goes out before the semi-finals and Aryna Sabalenka wins the title.
As for the next round, Barty will take on either British wildcard Emma Raducanu or Ajla Tomljanovic.
