Ash Barty and Aryna Sabalenka, the top two seeds in the women's singles draw, progressed to their first Wimbledon quarterfinals thanks to wins on 'Manic Monday'.
World No.1 Barty recovered from 2-4 down in the opening set to beat Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-5 6-3, a result ending the Czech’s 15-match winning streak.
Earlier, it was an even bigger breakthrough for Sabalenka, who advanced to her very first Grand Slam quarterfinal in her 15th major tournament thanks to a three-set win over Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka powered through the last 12 points in a row to set up a clash with Ons Jabeur, who rebounded to beat No.7 seed Iga Swiatek 5-7 6-1 6-1 in a fabulously entertaining encounter on No.2 Court.
Karolina Pliskova also progressed, with the former world No.1 snapping Liudmila Samsonova’s 10-match unbeaten streak following a 6-2 6-3 win on Court 12.
Like Barty and Sabalenka, Pliskova and Jabeur are through to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time.
In the men’s draw, Matteo Berrettini was the first singles winner on Monday, with a commanding 6-4 6-3 6-1 win over Ilya Ivashka sending him into his first Wimbledon quarterfinal.
The powerful Italian, now on a nine-match winning streak after also winning the Queen’s title, will next face either Alexander Zverev or Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Also progressing in straight sets were Novak Djokovic and Denis Shapovalov, while Karen Khachanov survived an incredible battle with Sebastian Korda that ended at 10-8 in the fifth.
Barty flies Australian flag
Barty-Krejcikova was one of the more highly-anticipated match-ups of the day given it featured the game’s highest-ranked and most in-form players.
For much of the first set, Krejcikova looked set to extend her winning streak; she settled into the No.1 Court contest faster and earned a break point for a 5-2 lead against the error-prone Barty.
But despite her first-serve percentage dipping below 50 during that seventh game, Barty erased the break point with a forehand winner and chipped away at her increasingly brittle opponent.
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Barty won five of the next six games to take the first set and really loosened up in the second, using all the shots in her vast repertoire and reducing her unforced error rate.
She broke Krejcikova for a 4-2 lead, and although she fell behind 0-30 when serving for the match, she found two forehand winners to work her way back, and slotted an ace up the T to end the taut contest.
The party continues ?
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2021
No.1 seed @ashbarty navigates through to the quarter-finals after a tricky encounter against Roland-Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova, winning 7-5, 6-3#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/7QxzUFADWJ
"An incredibly tough match. Barbora's had an incredible year, honestly. She's been one of the very toughest players to beat, and I was excited for the challenge today,” said Barty, who becomes the first Australian woman to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Jelena Dokic 21 years earlier.
"Just happy to come through in the end, I felt like I found some pretty good stuff when I needed it most, which is great."
Barty could next meet countrywoman Ajla Tomljanovic, who faces Emma Raducanu later in the day on the same court.
Should Tomljanovic get past the 18-year-old British wildcard, it would set up the first all-Australian women's Wimbledon quarterfinal in 41 years.