LONDON — Ash Barty’s winning streak is over, and so are her chances of winning a second straight Grand Slam title.
The Australian had won 15 matches in a row, including the French Open title, but she lost to Alison Riske 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 at Wimbledon on Monday, giving the unseeded American a spot in the quarterfinals of a major tournament for the first time.
“I haven’t been starting out fantastic in all my matches, but I knew I had the confidence that if I could manage my service games I was going to get looks on her serve,” said Riske, whose best previous showing was reaching the third round at Wimbledon and the fourth round at the 2013 US Open. “I had to play aggressive. I had to take it to Ash.”
Barty was playing her first tournament as the No. 1-ranked player, and she started off by winning points with her serve against Riske.
In the opening service game, the top-seeded Barty won all four points with aces. She won two more points in her next game with aces as well, and finished the match with 12.
But Riske took her chances when she got them, breaking Barty four times on four attempts, including to take a 5-3 lead in the deciding set before serving it out.
“Tough one. I think I started well. I was sticking to how I wanted to play,” Barty said. “Then in the second set, I think my serve let me down. I let Alison get back into the match too many times, having looks at second serves.
“Overall I didn’t play a poor match. When I needed to, when the big moments were there, Alison played better today. Tough one to swallow but I lost to a better player.”
Riske will next face Serena Williams on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. Williams defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2 on Monday.
Williams won six straight games from 3-2 in the first set to take control of the match and ease into the quarterfinals for the 14th time.
Williams raised both arms in celebration after her fifth break of the match gave her a 5-2 lead in the second set and served out the victory when Suarez Navarro sent a backhand wide.
Williams is looking for her eighth Wimbledon title after losing last year’s final to Angelique Kerber. She has never lost a set in seven career meetings against Suarez Navarro.
Also, No. 8 Elina Svitolina beat No. 24 Petra Martic 6-4, 6-2, and Zhang Shuai defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
Svitolina won six straight games from 4-4 in the first set. Martic called for medical treatment on her left leg after the first game of the second set and her movement appeared to be hampered the rest of the way. She asked for treatment again at 4-1.
Later on “Manic Monday,” 15-year-old sensation Coco Gauff will try to prolong her magical Grand Slam debut when she meets former No. 1 Simona Halep.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
