Australia’s Ashleigh Barty shakes hands with Alison Riske of the U.S. after their fourth round match on Monday (Reuters Photo)World number one and French Open champion Ash Barty was knocked out of Wimbledon on Monday after losing 3-6 6-2 6-3 in a ferocious battle with 55th-ranked American Alison Riske.
Barty, who had been on a sensational 15-match winning run, was brought down to earth with a thud by Riske, who reached her first ever Grand Slam quarter-final at the 30th attempt and at the age of 29.
Barty began well, serving four straight aces in the opening game on her way to winning a 21st successive set over the last three tournaments.
Yet Riske, who had spent more than four hours longer on court than Barty in the first week, dug-in for a trench battle, out-slugging the Australian to take the next two sets and set up a potential last eight clash with seven times champion Serena Williams.
