Wimbledon: Pliskova, Kvitova, Barty, and Gauff collapse in the third, while Serena, Halep, Alison Riske, and Konta advance into the quarterfinals.

Simona Halep put an end to Cori Gauff’s, the 15 years old sensation, dream run. Serena Williams rolled over Carla Suarez Navarro, and Ashleigh Barty, the world number one, was upset by, the grass-court specialist, Alison Riske in the fourth round of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

Karolina Pliskova, the third seed, was upset by, the 66 ranked, Karolina Muchova, and Petra Kvitova, the sixth seed, came undone by Johanna Konta in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Ashleigh Barty was ousted by Alison Riske in three sets.

Ashleigh Barty was doing well until her collapse against the grass-court specialist – Alison Riske. Barty was outdone in all aspects of the game in her fourth round against Riske.

Alison converted 100% of her break opportunities, won 20 of 27 net points, and fired 30 winners in the match. She won 82 total points as compared with 73 by Barty. Riske only lagged behind in the ace count with only 3 aces against 12 by Ashleigh.

Serena found her groove.

Serena Williams found her groove against Julia Goerges in the third, and then decimated Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2 in the fourth. Serena is in the zone now and anything is possible, from hereon, for the the queen.

Serena Williams versus Alison Riske.

Alison and Serena have never played each other and the advantage in their first ever meeting goes to the more seasoned and experienced Serena. Serena has elevated her level since the third against Goerges and looks good to make another run for the trophy.

Conslusion: Riske is as dangerous as they can come on the grass, and Serena is far from being Serena yet. The match could easily be stretched to three sets with Serena winning the closely contested third.

Konta out-slugs Kvitova.

Johanna Konta, the last hope of the Brits, out-slugged the hard-hitting Petra Kvitova to reach the quarterfinals. Konta has been serving a storm this Wimbledon and won 44 of 47 service games so far. The former world number 4 subdued Kvitova with penetrating serves and ground shots in the fourth.

Konta versus Strycova.

Konta’s next round opponent, Barbara Strycova has been devastating at the net and won 80% of her serve and volley skirmishes. She also leads all players in the percentage of serve-and-volley points played. The serve and volley, as a tactic, is rarely used in the women’s game. It helps disrupt the rhythm of the opponent and win easy points.

Conclusion: Johanna Konta should win in three, unless Strycova goes ballistic with the serve and volley and blasts Konta out in straight.

Pliskova was upset by Muchova.

Karolina Pliskova’s movement, or the lack thereof, will be the cause of her undoing in the slams. She was outplayed 6-4, 5-7, 11-13 by the unseeded Karolina Muchova in the fourth. The match was quite close with Muchova winning 146 total points as compared with 140 by Pliskova. Muchova fired 14 aces and 54 winners against, 7 and 51 by, Pliskova.

Muchova versus Svitolina.

Muchova was ranked above 200 around this time last year, and this was Muchova’s first win over a top 10 ranked player. Her next match against Elina Svitolina will be a different kind and with more rallies. Muchova struggled from the baseline against Karolina Pliskova and won less than 50% of the baseline points in the match. It may, therefore, help Svitolina to keep Muchova pinned at the baseline.

Conclusion: This is a tough one to call but Muchova, with that serve, has a slight advantage, on the grass, over Svitolina.

Halep ends Cori Gauff’s Cinderella story.

Cori Gauff, the fifteen years old sensation, was sent packing in the fourth by, the former world number 1, Simona Halep.

Simona looked good in her 6-3, 6-3 demolition of Gauff in the fourth and 6-3, 6-1 domination of Victoria Azarenka in the third. She will now face, the surprise quarter-finalist, Shuai Zhang who, to her credit, outplayed, the former world number one, Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-2 in the second.

Conclusion: The 30 years old Zhang was 0-5 at the Wimbledon Championships prior to 2019. Simona is an experienced veteran and, on paper, should win in three.