Manic Monday at Wimbledon witnessed maximum mayhem on the women’s side as three of the top remaining seeds — reigning World No. 1 and Roland Garros champion Ashleigh Barty, No. 3 Karolina Pliskova and two-time winner and No.6 Petra Kvitova — were all packed off in the fourth round.
Each of the three matches went the distance — Pliskova’s against fellow Czech Karolina Muchova was the longest, ending 13-11 in the third set. Kvitova was out-gunned by local favourite Johanna Konta while Barty’s variety, versatility and grass-court nous finally found a match in Alison Riske.
Gauff’s toughest test
The highest ranked player left in the draw is No. 7 Simona Halep, who quickly brought down the high-flying 15-year-old Cori Gauff, ending her six-match winning streak 6-3, 6-3. The counter-punching Halep was the toughest opponent Gauff had faced in her run thus far and it showed.
The Romanian, quite adept at making opponents hit that one extra ball, drew Gauff into long rallies from the outset. The teenager took the bait and even broke early, but couldn’t sustain the level as Halep proved too consistent and resourceful. Gauff also seemed physically compromised, but ruled out fatigue as a reason.
“I learnt a lot,” Gauff said about her Wimbledon experience. “[Learnt] to play in front of a big crowd…what it was like to be under pressure. It’s crazy. I lost in the second round of qualifying in Paris. Now I made it to the second week. I'm super proud of myself.”
The trigger for the day’s avalanche, though, came when Riske snapped Barty’s 15-match winning run stretching across French Open, Birmingham and Wimbledon. The American will next take on compatriot Serena Williams, who dismissed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2.
The way Barty started, there was no inkling of the outcome.
The 23-year-old displayed all the basic tenets of grass-court tennis. She started with four aces, used the one-two punch — being Barty’s, it was gentle — to great effect, and employed the backhand slice to reset rallies and regain court position as she took the first set 6-3.
However, Riske, whose best surface happens to be grass too, soon found the tennis to match Barty’s. The 29-year-old’s forehand is less of a shot and more of a steer. In the second and third sets she loaded it with enough penetrative power to rattle Barty. She also used short angle cross-courts to pull the Aussie wide and open up space. It was no surprise that she won 20 of 27 advances to the net overall.
No denying Riske
Even as Riske raised her game, Barty’s imploded. Her first serve gave way and the second proved inadequate as she lost the second set 6-2. The decider was a test of nerves, as she served behind, and Barty clearly felt it. At 3-4, 30-30, Riske made the play with a fierce return winner off a weak second serve followed by a fine forehand down the line.
A nervous hold ensued, but she wouldn’t be denied a maiden Slam quarterfinal place.
No reputations were harmed on the men’s side however, with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all sailing into the last eight. In doubles, Divij Sharan and Marcelo Demoliner lost to Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 7-5, 6-7(8), 7-6(6), 6-3 to bring an end to the Indian challenge.
