Unseeded American Alison Riske picked up her first ever win over a world number one and reached the last eight at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time on Manic Monday at Wimbledon, putting in superb performance to shock top seed Ashleigh Barty from a set down at Wimbledon.
Riske has fought hard to reach this stage, prevailing in three sets in all her previous matches, including wins over 22nd seed Donna Vekic and 13th seed Belinda Bencic, and also came into Wimbledon in good form, though was an underdog for this match, with Barty on a 15-match winning run.
It looked as if the Australian was in full control after the first set, dropping just three games in just 32 minutes, though Barty looked tight at times in the second and third sets, and Riske did enough to take advantage, prevailing 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and 37 minutes.
Superb Riske shocks Barty
It was the ideal start for Barty, with four aces in her opening the crowning jewel of some astonishing tennis that saw her lead 4-1 fairly quickly out on Court Two. The Australian looked untouchable early on, and held two double break points, though Riske resolutely fought back, and got the break back with some aggressive returning. However, Barty responded quickly, breaking for a second time and proceeded to hold to love to claim the opening set after 32 minutes.
Riske had caused some problems in that opener for Barty, and did even more so in set two. With the Australian not serving well, the American forced an early break, consolidating for a 4-1 lead as she looked to go to three sets for the fourth consecutive match here. Riske was proving to be too good on serve for Barty to have any real opportunity to break, and she broke Barty for the second time in the set at 5-2 to send the match to a decider.
The final set proved to be an even affair for the most part, with there being no real break point chances during the opening few games.; However, it was against Riske who seemed to be on the front foot, and it was she who struck at the key moment. The American broke for the first time in the set at 4-3 to serve for the match, and overcame any nerves, holding from 15-30 down to reach the last eight.
Barty was not at her best at times, that was often down to Riske playing so well, with the American striking only 15 errors to an impressive 30 winners on her way to the quarterfinals. The American proved herself to be one of the toughest opponents to face on grass in 2019, and will be hard to beat in the latter stages.