Forget the 63 consecutive service holds, it was what came next that mattered. There was no hint of annoyance from Ashleigh Barty when she was broken for the first time in almost three weeks to fall 2-0 behind in the second set against Amanda Anisimova. The world No 1 doesn’t do drama. Instead there was acceptance, focus, a quiet determination. While the American let out a triumphal roar and raised a clenched fist towards her team, Barty went quietly about the business of preparing for the next point.
What followed was the perfect demonstration of why many feel she is the player most likely to raise the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup come Saturday evening, ending Australia’s 44-year wait for a homegrown champion.
First there was a sumptuous rolled forehand return that sent Anisimova scrambling fruitlessly beyond the doubles alley. Then a beautiful change of pace and trajectory, as a skidding crosscourt slice was followed by a lofted topspin forehand that drew an error from the American as she tried in vain to alter the geometry of the rally. Two further backhand errors followed, one off another fizzing slice, the other from a three-quarter length forehand loaded with topspin. In the previous round against Naomi Osaka, Anisimova had thrived on the defending champion’s pace and rhythm. Against Barty, she barely got to hit the same ball twice. She would win only two more games.
“[The break of serve] didn’t bother me too much,” said Barty after a 6-4, 6-3 victory that moves her into a quarter-final against another American, the 21st seed Jessica Pegula, who beat fifth seed Maria Sakkari 7-6 (7-0), 6-3.
“Honestly, I’m not counting how many games I hold in a row or not. The fact I was able to reset, break straight back, was really important, just to be able to reset myself, go again and continue to do the right things.
“In that game Amanda saw a few second serves that she was able to punish, and she also had some really good returns off first serves. You tip your hat and you say, ‘Too good’ to your opponent when they come up with returns from the baseline. You move on pretty quickly and continue to try and do the right things. It’s a part of my game that I continue to work on.”
Barty, the top seed, has yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park as she aims to become the first Australian woman to lift the title since Chris O’Neil in 1978.
Barbora Krejcikova, the Czech fourth seed, remains on course for a projected semi-final meeting with Barty after coming through 6-2, 6-2 against two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, who was hampered by a neck injury.
Krejcikova, the French Open champion, will face Madison Keys in the last eight after the American world no 51 stunned Paula Badosa, the eighth seed, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park for the third time.