LONDON. – Top seed Ash Barty dispatched Katerina Siniakova at Wimbledon on Saturday, fending off an opponent who would have fancied her chances after dropping serve just once in the last two rounds and with six career wins against top-10 opponents.
The world No. 1 prevailed 6-3 7-5 on Centre Court to reach the last 16 after Czech Siniakova posed a resolute challenge while failing to find answers to the Australian’s immaculate sliced returns and spin in their first meeting.
“Certainly, it wasn’t going smoothly. I think it was a hell of a match right from the first point,” Barty said in her on-court interview. “Katerina brought an incredible level and it was a lot of fun playing out here.
“I knew I had to play very near my best to be able to compete with her today so I’m happy to be able to play some good stuff.”
Next up for Barty will be Siniakova’s doubles partner and 14th seed Barbora Krejcikova, who has won 15 successive singles matches including titles at Strasbourg and a maiden Grand Slam triumph at Roland Garros.
“Another great challenge, an incredible challenge,” Barty said of her next opponent.
“I’m very privileged to be in the second week of Wimbledon again. This is genuinely one of my favorite weeks of the year so to be prolonging my stay is a lot of fun but I’m looking forward to the challenge.
