Ashleigh Barty breaks new ground with first Wimbledon quarter-final

The Australian claimed a 7-5 6-3 win on Court One.

World number one Ashleigh Barty booked her first Wimbledon quarter-final by taking out French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the last 16.

Despite a liking for the grass courts, Barty had never made it past this stage before, but she put that right with a 7-5 6-3 win on Court One.

The Australian will play the winner of Emma Raducanu and Ajla Tomljanovic’s match later on Monday in the next round and will have strong hopes of adding a second grand-slam title to her collection.

Krejcikova is the current world number one in doubles, but she is making big strides in the singles as well as a spectacular few weeks came to an end.

The Czech won at Roland Garros last month having previously never made it past the fourth round at a grand slam and then made it to the second week at SW19, where she had never won a match previously.

But her 15-match winning run was brought to an end by Barty, who recovered from a slow start.

With a firing forehand, Krejcikova broke Barty’s serve to go into an early 3-1 lead.

Barty’s game soon arrived as she forced the break back, thanks largely to two Krejcikova errors to level at 4-4.

Ashleigh Barty in action (PA Wire)

She began finding her range on the forehand and forced a set point in Krejcikova’s next service game before eventually getting the job done two games later, winning the first set 7-5.

The second set – and the match – was decided by a run of three break of serves, which Barty crucially got two of as she claimed the win in clinical fashion.

She said in her on-court interview: “It was a tough match. Barbora has had an incredible year, she has been one of the toughest players.

“I found some pretty good stuff when I needed it most which is great.”