Ash Barty’s Wimbledon charge has come to a shuddering halt at the hands of free-swinging American Alison Riske.
Bidding to become the first Australian woman to make the quarter-finals at the All England Club since Jelena Dokic 19 years ago, Barty fell 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a fourth-round nail-biter on Monday.
Unseeded Riske withstood 12 aces from Barty to chalk up her tour-best 14th grass court victory of the season.The Court 2 boilover also ended Barty’s 15-match winning streak and scuppered the 23-year-old’s hopes of completing a rare French Open-Wimbledon title double.
Barty even delved deeper into her back-catalogue of Disney quotes to reference musical Annie in her post-match media conference as she kept the defeat in perspective.”It’s disappointing right now, but you give me an hour or so and I’ll be all good,” Barty said.
