World No. 1 Ashleigh is gutted after her 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 Round 4 defeat to Alison Riske; gives credit to opponent
Ashleigh Barty is dejected after losing to Alison Riske in their Round 4 tie at Wimbledon yesterday. Pic /AFP
London: World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty paid credit to her Last-16 conqueror Alison Riske, but admitted the 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 defeat was "tough to swallow".
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The Australian, who could lose her number one ranking to the Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova, looked on course to keep her hopes up of becoming the first Australian women's Wimbledon champion since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won her second crown in 1980 after taking the first set.
However, her American opponent stormed back and Barty, who had strolled through the first week without a problem, had no answer.
"It is a tough one to swallow, but I lost to a better player," said Barty. "When her back is against the wall, she plays really well typically."
American Alison Riske
Barty, who was the first Australian woman to be ranked world number one since Goolagong Cawley, said overall she was ecstatic at the journey she had been on this year, winning the French Open and getting to the top of the rankings.
"Overall it's been a hell of a trip," she said. "Disappointed right now. In the same breath, it's been an incredible few months. New ground for me here at Wimbledon. This is the best we've [her and her team] done [she had never reached the fourth round in singles before]. Yeah, very proud of what we've been able to achieve."
Gauff, Pliskova out
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff, 15, could not summon up yet another magical performance as the American went down 6-3, 6-3, to Romanian Simona Halep.
Earlier, third seed Karolina Pliskova went out as well in a marathon duel beaten by compatriot Karolina Muchova 4-6, 7-5, 13-11.
Serena sails through
Later in the day, seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams coasted into the quarter-finals beating Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2.
The path for the American of equalling Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles appears significantly easier. Her quarter-final opponent today will be Riske.
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