Will Oliver/EPA, via Shutterstock
WIMBLEDON, England — Top-seeded Ashleigh Barty became the highest ranked player to fall at Wimbledon, losing, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, to Alison Riske in the fourth round on Monday afternoon.
Barty, 23, entered the match with supreme confidence and was the oddsmakers’ favorite. In June, she won the French Open and became the first Australian woman atop the world rankings since Evonne Goolagong-Cawley in 1976. She had won her last 15 matches and played flawlessly during Wimbledon’s first week, losing no sets and only 12 games.
When she opened up her fourth-round match with four straight aces and took the first set with easy efficiency, it looked as if her winning streak would grow and she would soon be in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time.