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Top seed Ashleigh Barty survived the battle of Roland Garros champions with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round on Monday. Having secured a quarterfinal berth, Barty is now on her career-best run at the All England Club.
Despite going an early break down in the first set, Barty fought back to clinch the set and eventually the match, losing serve just twice throughout. The Aussie was the steadier player in the pressure moments, and will fancy her chances of winning her maiden title at SW19 if she keeps performing at this level.
On that note, let's take a look at three talking points from this fourth-round encounter.
#1 Ashleigh Barty's slice continues to be her biggest weapon
Ashleigh Barty's slice helped her dictate a large number of rallies in the match. Barbora Krejcikova's fast-paced groundstrokes were rendered futile as the exchanges grew longer.
The World No. 1's accurate slices compelled Krejcikova to go for some expansive shots, which often produced errors.
While Krejcikova herself employed the slice more frequently as the match went on, Barty's consistent composure and control over her own shots gave the Czech little room for a comeback.
#2 Barbora Krejcikova's serve let her down
In her previous match against Anastasija Sevastova, Barbora Krejcikova produced a near-perfect serving performance in the deciding set to win the match. She won over 70% of her first-serve points in the match overall, and got broken just four times in over two and a half hours of game-play.
Against Barty, however, the Czech's serve was far from its best. She won just 61% of the points on her first serve and faced as many as seven break points in the two-setter.
Perhaps most importantly, Krejcikova was unable to hold on to her lead after breaking Barty early in the first set, and that cost her dearly.
#3 Ashleigh Barty snaps Barbora Krejcikova's 15-match winning streak
Barbora Krejcikova was often referred to as a doubles specialist until her fabulous run to her maiden WTA singles title in Strasbourg two months ago. She then surprised the entire tennis world with her phenomenal victory in the Roland Garros final last month, becoming the first Czech champion there in over 40 years.
Krejcikova then carried her winning momentum to her main-draw debut at Wimbledon, winning her first three matches convincingly. But Ashleigh Barty was one obstacle too many for the 25-year-old. The World No. 1's court craft and composure forced Krejcikova to get out of her comfort zone, and she never really recovered after getting broken back in the first set.
That said, the Czech's 15 match-winning streak is a testament to her rise as a dominant force in the singles discipline. She will crack the top 15 in the rankings for the first time in her career next Monday, which is just reward for her work over the last couple of months.
