World number one Ashleigh Barty reaches her maiden Wimbledon semi-final
What's the story
Women's world number one Ashleigh Barty outclassed fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic to reach her maiden semi-final at Wimbledon. The 2019 Roland Garros winner defeated Tomljanovic, 6-1, 6-3, in the quarter-final clash that spanned for over an hour. Barty has won her 10th match in the prestigious grass-court tournament. She will lock horns with Angelique Kerber in the penultimate round. Here's more.
Match
How did the match pan out?
Barty lost the very first game of the match despite entering as favorite. However, she took no time to win five back-to-back games. In the second set as well, Tomljanovic won the opening game. Her fight didn't continue for long as Barty staged a similar comeback. Tomljanovic clinched a couple of games toward the end, but the latter won the match point soon.
Wimbledon
Quarter-final
Information
A record win for Barty
Barty has secured her 10th match-win at Wimbledon. Before this edition, she had never gone past the fourth round of the tournament. The world number one is eyeing her second Grand Slam title, having won the 2019 French Open.
Barty
Barty to face Angelique Kerber in the semis
This was the first all-Australian Grand Slam quarter-final since 1980 Wimbledon. Notably, Barty hasn't been defeated by a fellow Australian since she lost to Daria Gavrilova in the 2017 Strasbourg quarter-finals. Earlier, Barty had ended the 15-match winning streak of Krejcikova by defeating her in the last 16 clash. She will now face former world number one Angelique Kerber in the semis.
Praise
Tomljanovic earns praise from Barty
Barty praised her Australian compatriot Tomljanovic after the match. She said, "Ajla is an incredible competitor. I had to play my absolute best to be able to compete with her. She's had an incredible fortnight and I think all Aussies back home are bloody proud of her and it's really nice to share the court with her today."