BARTY WINS AUSSIE BATTLE TO REACH WIMBLEDON SEMIS
WORLD number one Ashleigh Barty yesterday outclassed compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 6-3 to reach tomorrow’s Wimbledon semi-finals and set up a meeting with 2018 champion Angelique Kerber.
In the first all-Australian women’s Grand Slam quarter-final since the 1980 Wimbledon Championships, the 25-year-old Barty produced a calm and composed display on Centre Court.
Tomljanovic, who battled past British wildcard Emma Raducanu the night before to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final, was nowhere to be seen in a one-sided first set.
But the 28-year-old did make more of a match of it in the second, breaking the Barty serve twice.
Barty always had another level though and ended Tomljanovic’s resistance in little over an hour.
In an earlier match, former Wimbledon champion Kerber of Germany put in a strong show to beat an error-prone Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-3.
The 2018 champion, seeded 25th at the All England Club this year, arrived for the contest having defeated Czech Muchova both times in their two meetings in two weeks in 2019 and never lost control of the match under the closed roof of Court One.
Former world No 1 Kerber, who also won the Australian Open and the US Open in 2016, used her forehand immaculately against 19th seed Muchova and also mixed her drop shots expertly to set up chances for winners.
Muchova, who had her left thigh strapped, did not help her cause by committing 27 unforced errors against the nine winners she managed during the 75-minute contest.
The 19th-seeded Czech was also guilty of failing to take her chances, managing to convert only one of the eight break-point opportunities she had on the left-hander’s serve.
The 33-year-old Kerber, who arrived at Wimbledon with a title from Bad Homburg in the lead-up and is the only former champion left in the draw, broke Muchova twice in each set.
The German sealed the contest when Muchova sent a forehand long on her second match point.