Sabalenka seals first Grand Slam QF berth; Barty edges Krejcikova at Wimbledon

The top two seeds are safely through to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Entering Wimbledon as the only player in the Top 20 to have not reached the last eight at a major, No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka checked off the long-awaited milestone on her career resume on Monday in London by beating Elena Rybakina, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

With the match finely poised at 3-3 in the deciding set, Sabalenka surged through to new ground by winning the last 12 points of the match, having lost twice previously in the fourth round of Grand Slams at the 2018 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open.

Rybakina, by contrast, was bidding to reach her second straight Grand Slam quarterfinal, having first done so at the French Open just three weeks ago.

"In the game on her serve [at 4-3, where Sabalenka broke to love], I wasn't nervous. I was just thinking to stay aggressive and put everything back, try to dominate," she said. 

"In the last game when I was up 30-Love, I was little bit... I was almost crying because in that moment, I felt like everything is going well, few points from my first personal goal in the Grand Slams.

"I was almost crying, but then I cooled down and understood this is not the final goal, there is a match tomorrow, and this is not the moment where I can cry. I hold the breath for a second, then I was smiling. I was nervous a little bit on the last game."

The pair played three sets for the third time in three career matches, with the No.18 seed bouncing back after losing the first set to stretch the match the distance. After losing a break lead from 3-1, Rybakina won three of the last four games of the middle set from 3-3, and won eight straight points on serve.

Sabalenka and No.21 seed Ons Jabuer, who came from a set down to beat Iga Swiatek in three sets, will face off in the last eight as each woman bids for her first Grand Slam semifinal. The pair have split two previous meetings.

"She has good touch, good serving game, moving well," Sabalenka assessed. "I also have a good serve, play aggressive. [I'm] kind of trying to use my touch also. Trying to be not only aggressive on the court, sometimes change the speed.

"It's going to be interesting match. It's going to be great battle. I'm really looking forward for this match."

Later in the day, top seed Ashleigh Barty ended Barbora Krejcikova's 15-match winning streak to reach her fifth career Grand Slam quarterfinal, 7-5, 6-3.

Down a break in the first set at 3-1 and 4-2, the World No.1 won five of the final six games - though Krejcikova saved a set point to hold for 5-5 - and also led by a break for much of the second. The Czech also had another break point to lead 5-2 in the first set, but it went unconverted.

"That 2-4 game in the first set was a big one. I felt like a couple of those break points down, I think there were one or two, I played the point a bit more aggressively and was able to be a bit more assertive. That was kind of a little bit of a change," Barty said after the match.

"Probably for the first 15 or 20 minutes, I felt like I was really struggling to pick up her ball off her racquet. I wasn't able to make enough, give myself a chance to get into games, plain and simple.

"Once I was able to do that, getting a break back instantly at 4-3 to level things out was a good game. Again, made more balls and gave myself a chance.

"It was just about giving myself time to settle into the match in a sense of feeling super free and super comfortable, just working my way into games."

Seven of nine games went past deuce in a tight second set, and it was Barty who had all the answers to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time. 

In all, the Aussie hit seven aces and 22 winners to 24 unforced errors, saving 8 of the 10 break points she faced. Up next, she will face either compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic, or the Cinderella of the tournament, teenaged British wild card Emma Raducanu. 

"In a sense of being in the quarters, I'm happy. I'm excited. It's another stepping stone for me," Barty said. "It's another first, I suppose. It's kind of going to be a new situation, a new scenario, one that I'm going to look forward to.

"I'm going to enjoy it no matter what. I think it's a stepping stone to what is kind of one of my biggest dreams. We just keep chipping away."

Joining the top two seeds in the quarterfinals is someone who is also having a career-best performance at Wimbledon: Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland, who advanced into the last eight with a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over No.23 seed Madison Keys of the United States.

Golubic had never advanced past the third round of a major before this fortnight, but the World No.66 continues her excellent season by booking a spot in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with her one-hour and 39-minute win over former World No.7 Keys.

"It's very, very exciting to be through," Golubic said, in her post-match press conference. "It's so special now to be in the quarterfinals."

"I was very solid in all my shots basically, but also I think that I was returning her serves well," Golubic added. "It was really important, because if she starts serving well, you cannot really do a lot. Then on some point I was reading her serve a bit and made some good returns. I think that was very important, and also the fact that I was serving quite solid today, as well."

The pair had split their two previous meetings, with Golubic winning the most recent one at a Billie Jean King Cup tie in 2019. Golubic made it two victories over Keys in a row, edging the American in winners by 28 to 27, while hitting only nine unforced errors in the clash.

The form displayed by Golubic in the match is emblematic of her season as a whole. The Swiss player has reached two singles finals already this season, at Monterrey and Lyon, and has seen her ranking rise over 70 places in the last six months as a result.

Golubic saw a 5-2 lead in the first set slip away before she regrouped to clinch the opener in a tiebreak. She charged ahead to the same position in the second set, holding for 5-2 again with an array of deft dropshots.

This time around, Golubic would not falter, grasping her second match point with a winner off of her excellent single-handed backhand. A netted return by Keys on the next point sent Golubic into her first major quarterfinal.

"It was a process," Golubic said, discussing her switch to a single-handed backhand as a pre-teen. "At the beginning, I didn't have a lot of power, so it was tough to get the timing right, because they could really attack my backhand. And now, it's my best shot, I would say."

"And for grass, it's perfect, I think," the Swiss concluded.