Ajla Tomljanovic and Ash Barty have both won their fourth round matchups to set up an all-Aussie quarter-final at Wimbledon.
It will be Tomljanovic’s first-ever grand slam quarter-final – but she achieved the milestone in a way she would not have wanted as her British teenage opponent Emma Raducanu had to pull out of the match with a breathing problem.
Tomljanovic was 6-3 3-0 ahead in their last-16 clash on Monday when the 18-year-old Briton, having called for the trainer, had to go off court to be treated for a problem with breathlessness that appeared to have cropped up at the start of the second set.
Raducanu was not well enough to return to the court – the most unfortunate end to what had been the most professional of performances from the Australian No.2 to beat Britain’s new teenage show court darling.
“I am actually shocked because Emma must be hurt if she came to the decision to retire,” Tomljanovic told the No.1 court crowd.
“I am really sorry for her, I wish we could have finished it. I am wishing her all the best.
“I thought I found my groove although Emma was hurt and not at her best, which kind of explains it.”
The whole of the home nation had been cheering on the wildcard Raducanu, ranked 338th in the world, who captured everyone’s imagination through her run to the last-16, but the seasoned world No.75 Tomljanovic quite ruined the script.
Tomljanovic was not about to miss out on the most important victory of a meandering career on No.1 Court as the 28-year-old Brisbane player celebrated reaching the last-eight of a slam for the first time at the 27th time of asking.
The win set up a dream quarter-final on Tuesday for Tomljanovic with her friend and compatriot Ash Barty, who had earlier beaten the French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-5 6-3 on the same court.
It’s also the first time Barty has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals and she was thrilled to reach the last-eight.
“Being in the quarter, I’m happy, I’m excited,” smiled Barty.
“It’s another stepping stone for me, another first, I suppose. It’s going to be a new scenario, one that I’m going to look forward to and enjoy no matter what,” said the world No.1.
“Certainly happy with the way things are going. It’s a stepping stone to what is kind of one of my biggest dreams. We just keep chipping away…”
It guarantees that there’ll be an Australian woman in Thursday’s Wimbledon semi-finals.
AAP
Read more:
