"It's another stepping stone, there's no place I'd rather be at the moment" - Ashleigh Barty after reaching maiden Wimbledon QF
Top seed Ashleigh Barty beat fellow Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday. With the win, Barty has reached the quarterfinals at the All England Club for the first time in her career.
Krejcikova earned an early break in the much-anticipated encounter, before Barty fought back to win the first set. The Aussie's varied ball-striking proved too much for her opponent in the second set, and she eventually served out a hard-fought victory.
After the match, Barty expressed her emotions at achieving the quarterfinal milestone at Wimbledon.
"I'm happy. I'm excited. It's another stepping stone for me. It's another first, I suppose," Ashleigh Barty said. "It's kind of going to be a new situation, a new scenario, one that I'm going to look forward to."
"I love coming out here and testing myself against the best in the world, and there's certainly no place I'd rather be at the moment," she added.
During her presser, Barty acknowledged the tough challenge she faced in the form of Krejcikova. The World No. 1 expressed relief at getting past the finish line, which she put down to producing "some pretty good stuff" in the crunch moments.
"An incredibly tough match," Barty said. "I was excited for the challenge today. Just happy to come through in the end. Feel like I found some pretty good stuff when I needed it most, which is great."
The Aussie also analyzed the tough early part of the match, when she got broken to go 1-3 down in the first set, and how she recovered the deficit.
"Probably for the first 15 or 20 minutes, I felt like I was really struggling to pick up her ball off her racket," Ashleigh Barty said. "I wasn’t able to make enough, give myself a chance to get into games, plain and simple."
“Once I was able to do that, getting a break back instantly at 4-3 to level things out was a good game," she added. "Again, made more balls and gave myself a chance. It was just about giving myself time to settle into the match in a sense of feeling super free and super comfortable, just working my way into games."
"It'll be an exciting matchup for sure" - Ashleigh Barty on potentially facing young British sensation Emma Raducanu
Ashleigh Barty will face either fellow Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic or rising British phenomenon Emma Raducanu in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Raducanu has made the Wimbledon fourth round on her main-draw Slam debut, and Barty was all praise for the 18-year-old during her presser.
"She is having an incredible tournament, it's amazing to see a young player like Emma play fearless tennis," Ashleigh Barty said. "If that's the matchup, it'll be an exciting matchup for sure."
The top seed also claimed she was "pumped" to see her long-time friend Tomljanovic reach the second week. Barty believes it will be great for Australian tennis if an all-Aussie battle takes place in the quarterfinals.
"Ajla and I, we have practiced together plenty of times. I've known her for a long time now and we're good mates," Ashleigh Barty said. "I was pumped to see Ajla through to the second week here and it's obviously great for Aussie tennis. She's been knocking on the door for some time now."
"Whether it's Emma or Ajla, both atmospheres will be different," Barty added. "They will be what they will be and I will absolutely enjoy every single second out there."