Barty blasts fellow Aussie away 6-1, 6-3 to reach semi-final

By Paul Lagan on Centre Court at AELTC

Ashleigh Barty v Ajla Tomljanovic

6-1, 6-3 

It was the battle of the Aussies – one born in Croatia, the other in Ipswich.

While Ajla Tomljanovic hails from Zagreb, Ashleigh Barty is in fact Australian – Ipswich in Queensland.

The Fed Cup companions thrashed the court with blistering drives and long rallies but it was Barty who showed her class, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

It didn’t take long for top seed Barty to break her fellow countrywoman. The opening serves were a tester – of court conditions and each other. But on Tomljnovic’s second serve, Barty proved that in a long rally, she would be confident of coming off the better. And so it proved as she broke Tomljnovic’s serve to 30.

Tomljanovic, 28, attempted to out-power Barty on her serve, but was passed with consummate ease and she raced into a 3-1 lead.

This was quickly followed by a break to love by Barty and the set raced away from Tomljanovic before she realised what was happening.

However a break point on Barry’s next serve gave the Croatian-born player a glimmer of hope, which was quickly extinguished as she won the next two points, leaving Tomljanovic serving to save the set.

But a double-fault at 14-30 gave Barty set point. A clever clipped back-hand slice down the line wrong-footed Tomljanovic and the set ended after just 25 minutes.

The crowd were certainly hoping for a long match, and the first set was suggesting quite the opposite, so when Barty lost her serve in the opening game of the second set, a somewhat joyous crowd gave Tomljanovic and extra helping of applause.

But that applause was somewhat muted a few minutes later when Tomljanovic threw away the advantage and her game to return the set to serve and 1-1.

In the fourth game and Barty 2-1 up, there was frankly some ordinary tennis with easy, quick points won with unforced errors. But Barry’s ability to recover seemingly lost causes – one being an especially brilliant baseline backhand back over the net before finishing off the point was a case in point. And that allowed her to gain a break advantage to go 3-1 up before winning her own service game to take it to an almost unassailable 4-1 lead.

Tomljanovic just about held her serve to stay in contention, but while Barty sensed blood, Tomljanovic sensed a chance and she succeeded in breaking Barty to bring the set back onto serve at 4-3.

But Barty is not favourite for the title for nothing and immediately broke the serve and the resolve of her opponent.

Serving at 5-3 and for the match, she raced quickly raced into a 30-love lead, thanks to some nifty serve and volley. The backhand slice was particularly effectively, and when Tomljanovic overhit her drive, it was a case of which three match points she would need. She missed the first, mistiming a shot into the net, but an ace down the T was all that was needed.

She will now face Angelique Kerber in the semi-final on Thursday.