Bride-to-be Riske ends Barty run

Wedding preparations will haveto waitforalisonriske after she pulled off a massive shock by ending world No 1 Ashleigh Barty’s winning run.

Barty had won 15 matches in a row dating back to the Italian Open in May and taking in her maiden grand-slam singles title at the French Open as well as the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham. But she found grass-court specialist Riske too big an obstacle, and the 55th-ranked American recovered from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

It was the biggest victory of the 29-year-old’s career and she will face Serena Williams today in her first grand-slam quarter-final.

Riske probably had not expected to be centre stage until after the Championships, when she will marry fiance Stephen Amritraj. “I wish I could get married more often,” she said. “Maybe we’ll have to renew our vows because it’s worked out well having that on the horizon.”

Barty blamed herself for the defeat but also gave credit to her opponent. “I think I started well,” she said. “Then in the second set, my serve let me down. “Overall I didn’t play a poor match. When the big momentswerethere,alison played better today.”