Australian Open 2020: Ash Barty overcomes American Alison Riske in thrilling three-set contest

Nathan Williamson

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Australian Open 2020: Ash Barty overcomes American Alison Riske in thrilling three-set contest image

Australian world number one Ash Barty has booked her place in the quarter-finals after a tense three-set contest against American 18th seed Alison Riske.

Barty overcame a sluggish second set to defeat Riske 6-3 1-6 6-4 to book her place in the quarter-final for the second consecutive time.

The world number one immediately pressed her dominance over the match, breaking the Riske serve in the second game to race out to a 3-1 lead.

Whilst the American would fight back, Barty controlled the first set, breaking her serve again to take the opener 6-3.


However, Riske would show why she holds a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over Barty, dominating the second set.

She would win nine out of the first twelve points to race out to a 3-0 lead, before breaking the Aussie once again in the sixth game.

The 18th seed took advantage of a wayward Barty, who hit 12 unforced errors during the set, allowing the American to take it 6-1 and tie the contest up.


Both players would start the set strong, trading services holds during the opening couple of games.

However, Barty would find a way to break the American's serve to take a 3-1 lead.


Riske would refuse to give up, levelling the scores at 4-4 after Barty lost her serve.

Despite this, the Australian would remain composed, holding her serve before breaking Riske to claim the match and book her place in the final eight against Petra Kvitova.


"I struggled tonight, but was able to get big holds I needed," she said post-match.

"It's been an incredible year for me.

"The last 12 months. It has been amazing.

"I'm just excited I get another opportunity in a quarter-final of a Grand Slam.

"You don't get those every week, so I'm really excited."


Barty becomes the first Australian since the tournament moved to Melbourne in 1988 to make back-to-back quarter-finals.

She will face a familiar foe in Czech ace Petra Kvitova, who knocked her out of the 2019 tournament at the exact same stage.

Nathan Williamson