WIMBLEDON, July 5: Top-ranked Ash Barty advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time by beating French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 6-3 Monday while Novak Djokovic reached his 50th Grand Slam quarter-final on Monday with a straight-sets victory over Chile’s Cristian Garin.
World number one Djokovic eased into the last-eight at the All England Club with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win and will face either Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics or Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev for a place in the semi-finals.
Barty struggled with her serve but saved eight of 10 break points. The Australian won her only Grand Slam title at the 2019 French Open but was the Wimbledon girls singles champion in 2011.
Ons Jabeur became the first Arab woman to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals by beating former French Open champion Iga Swiatek 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. The Tunisian converted all seven break points she created and served out the match at love with an ace.
It was the first match completed on Wimbledon’s Manic Monday, when all the men’s and women’s fourth-round matches are played.
Minutes later, No. 2-seeded Aryna Sabalenka reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal by beating Elena Rybakina 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
The 21st-seeded Jabeur also reached the quarterfinals at last year’s Australian Open, becoming the first Arab woman to reach that stage at any Grand Slam tournament.
Swiatek won last year’s French Open but lost in the first round of her only previous Wimbledon appearance in 2019.
Matteo Berrettini became the first Italian man in 23 years to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals by easing past unseeded Ilya Ivashka 6-4, 6-3, 6-1. The seventh-seeded Berrettini only landed 53% of his first serves but was only broken once in the match. He finished with 37 winners to 16 for Ivashka.
Berrettini won the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament last month and has only dropped one set so far at Wimbledon. He is the first Italian to reach the quarters at the All England Club since Davide Sanguinetti in 1998. Lorenzo Sonego has a chance to join him later when he plays Roger Federer on Centre Court.
Djokovic broke serve five times on Monday and hit 28 winners, twice as many as his 17th-seeded Chilean opponent. The six-time Wimbledon champion, also chasing a record-equalling 20th major title, is halfway to a calendar Grand Slam. (AP)
