Australian world No.1 Ash Barty has cruised into her first Wimbledon semi-final with a comfortable straight-sets win over fellow Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic.
Barty took just over an hour to win 6-1 6-3, in the first all-Australian Grand Slam quarter-final in 41 years.
The World No.75 struggled to hold serve in the first set against a dominant display from Barty, who took control from the third game.
The Croatian-born Aussie, who faced a scheduling 'catastrophe' in her win over young British star Emma Raducanu, was more competitive in the third set, at one point managing to break back against Barty to bring the scores back to 3-4.
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But Barty responded immediately and convincingly, breaking Tomljanovic again in the following game before serving out the match to book a tantalising semi-final match-up against in-form German Angelique Kerber.
Barty finished with 23 winners to just five for Tomljanovic, who was playing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final.
After the match, the Queenslander was full of praise for her 'incredible' opponent, who she had trained and played Fed Cup with but never previously faced in competition.
"She was always going to bring out the very best in me," Barty said.
"I had to play my absolute best to be able to compete with her. She's had an incredible fortnight.
"And I think all Aussies back home are bloody proud of her and it was really nice to share the court with her today."
The 25-year-old will on Thursday (likely Friday AEST) face what she called the "ultimate test" against in-form 2018 Wimbledon champion Kerber, who powered past Czech Karolina Muchova earlier in the day.
"She's obviously had success here before and, you know, had the best fortnight here possible," Barty said.
"I love that match-up. I love playing Angie.
"She's an incredible competitor. She knows her way around this court and I hope that I can play well and give myself a chance and play a good match."
- with Associated Press
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from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/tennis/wimbledon-2021-ash-barty-claims-easy-win-over-alja-tomljanovic-in-all-australian-quarter-final/53799b54-750e-4b33-a9f3-d571ceb27252
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