The serve was not at full throttle and the strokes were often rather wayward but that did not stop Ash Barty from reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time with a 7-5, 6-3 win over French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova on Monday.
Long tipped as a future Wimbledon champion, the Australian world No 1 has had to wait nine long years since making her debut in 2012 to finally put herself in the last-eight mix at the grasscourt major.
“I’m excited. It’s another first, I’m going to enjoy it no matter what. It’s a stepping-stone to what is one of my biggest dreams,” the 25-year-old said as she looked forward to an all-Australian showdown with Ajla Tomljanovic.
Facing her Czech opponent, who until last Tuesday had never played a main draw singles match on turf, Barty had been expected to easily make her greater grasscourt pedigree count.
Yet she was the one who came unstuck first with Krejcikova threatening to win her 16th match on the trot after seizing the early initiative when she broke for a 2-1 lead in the first set.
But in a battle of world No 1s, with Krejcikova on top of the women’s doubles standings, Barty bided her time before finally drawing level at 4-4 when the Czech netted a backhand.
