Women's tennis world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka praises Ash Barty as one the smartest oppositions she's faced ahead of Wimbledon quarter final
The Belarusian cruised past home favourite Emma Raducanu in London in the third round of the tournament on Saturday, before knocking out her former doubles partner and 24th seeded Elise Mertens in the round of 16 with a convincing 6-4 7-6 performance.
The Belarusian moves on to the quarter final where she will look to end the hot run of 104th ranked Laura Siegemund.
The 37-year-old German has stunned tennis crowds, making history by reaching just the second Grand Slam singles quarter final of her career, one of the oldest competitors to achieve the feat.
Siegemund stunningly has also not dropped a set along the way, including in a resounding knockout of against American ace Madison Keys in the third round.
But it seems Sabalenka may have a particular edge after she revealed she has taken a lot of insight from some of the games best and applied it to her own, citing Aussie Barty as one of the sport's most knowledgeable competitors in the process.
'Someone I played against, I think actually Barty was always very smart and she definitely understands the game quite well. I think she was the smartest one,' Sabalenka said.
The 27-year-old also detailed overcoming mental challenges, a successful venture learnt from Novak Djokovic.
'Not like someone I played against but definitely talking a lot to Novak, he definitely has a lot of knowledge of the game and it's really helped me a lot several times. Basically whenever I talked to him it really helped me.
'One of the conversations went to managing energy, another one about the mental part of the game, then we had another conversation about mentally approaching those big finals.
'So I think mostly we're talking about the mental part of the game, but also one time he really helped me with my returns.
'Now he's always making fun of me copying his return, but I'm like man it's working, I'm copying the best. I probably have to talk to him more about tennis stuff.'
Djokovic also heads into the quarter final of the mens singles after coming back to defeat Aussie Alex de Minaur in four sets after what was a frustrating start.
Sabalenka will be taking all her experiences into the final stages of the tournament as she looks to make amends in London with hopes of obtaining her first Wimbledon trophy to add to her grand slam haul.
The Belarusian came agonisingly close to winning her maiden French Open title back in June after a three set thriller against American Coco Gauff so her fall just short, but will look to go one step further this time round.
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History awaits Alcaraz For Alcaraz, this is his shot to join Djokovic, Federer, Pete Sampras and Borg in exclusive company as Open Era men's champions to claim a historic hat-trick of Wimbledon titles after beating Djokovic in the last two finals. He rocked back and roared as Fritz misfired long on a forehand on match point after the Spaniard's brave down-the-line backhand put him in charge. It was a particularly bitter end for the American, who failed to convert two set points – one of them on serve – that would have forced a deciding set. Borg was in the royal box, along with Leonardo DiCaprio, Rami Malek, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Ford and Anna Wintour, to see Alcaraz clinch his 24th win on the trot. 'It was a really difficult match, and it always is when I have to play against Taylor,' Alcaraz said. 'It was even tougher with the conditions today – it was really hot again – so I'm really happy with everything I've done today ... playing a semi-final here is not easy to deal with everything, [including] nerves, and pressure you might have. But I'm just happy to win in four sets, [saving] two set points – one with Taylor serving, and really proud of the way I stayed calm, and I'm pleased about my level today.' Alcaraz took mere minutes to remind Fritz how difficult his afternoon was going to be, pouncing on him immediately with some blistering blows to break in the first game. If Fritz was caught napping early, then he did his best to wake from his slumber with some spectacular hitting at times – but that often seemed his only path to winning points, particularly on Alcaraz's serve, which was humming in the opening set. Alcaraz threatened to break Fritz's serve a second time, but the American dodged trouble to force his Spanish rival to serve the set out, which he did to love, including a pair of thunderous aces and another unreturned serve. There was a different feel from the outset of the second set, with Fritz holding comfortably then starting to make inroads on return as Alcaraz's sky-high level dipped. Play also stopped twice for British fans struggling in London's heat wave, which only added to the tension. Loading Fritz had already restricted Alcaraz to deuce or 15-30 in three of his previous four service games, including a first break point in the eighth game, by the time he finally broke the Spaniard to level the match. It was an awful game from Alcaraz, who double-faulted for 0-40 then wildly flayed a forehand beyond the baseline to concede. However, order was restored in the third game of the third set when Fritz slumped to 0-40, with Alcaraz having the fifth seed on a string with first a drop shot then sending him scurrying the other way with a lob that he could not get back into play. That was all Alcaraz needed to cruise to a two-sets-to-one lead. But Fritz, who reached last year's US Open final, continued to hang around, even digging deep to stave off a potentially match-crippling break point in the sixth game of the fourth set with some aggressive tennis. The contest continued to zip by with few extended rallies, and they both began dominating on serve as the tie-breaker approached. One ill-advised drop shot in the tie-break threatened to cost Fritz dearly. Alcaraz used the tactic regularly and with great effect to expose Fritz's movement, but trying it against the athletic Spaniard was always fraught with danger. Loading Alcaraz chased it down, won the point and shot 4-1 clear, but Fritz came charging back with the next five points, starting with a brilliant backhand down the line to draw level. With a fifth set staring him in the face, the American would have desperately wished for a service winner. Alcaraz had other ideas, neutralising the point then forcing his way to the net to draw an error. Fritz's second set point was on Alcaraz's serve, and he made a deep return, but ballooned a forehand long to lose it. Everything happened quickly from there as Alcaraz proved his 'King Carlos' status again. Fritz was highly impressive in defeat and has established himself in the same second tier as world No.3 Alex Zverev, behind the new Big Three – Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic. Earlier, Australia's Olivia Gadecki could not match compatriot Rinky Hijikata in reaching the Wimbledon doubles final. She and American partner Desirae Krawczyk went down 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to eighth seeds Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova in their women's semi-final.
