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'Really good person': Ash Barty's fallen foe offers classy praise

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·3-min read
Barbora Krejcikova (pictured left) congratulating winner Ash Barty (pictured right) at Wimbledon.
Barbora Krejcikova (pictured left) had some high praise for Ash Barty (pictured right) following the Aussie's Round of 16 win at Wimbledon. (Getty Images)

Defeated rival Barbora Krejcikova has offered some kind words for World No.1 Ash Barty after their Round of 16 clash at Wimbledon.

Barty let out a rare roar following her close-fought 7-5, 6-3 victory over Krejcikova, which ended the fairytale run of French Open champion.

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Aussie Ajla Tomlljanovic defeated British sensation Emma Raducanu as she was forced to retire hurt for medical reasons, setting up an all Aussie quarter-final.

But despite the disappointment of losing in the Round of 16, Krejcikova only had high praise for her opponent.

"I see the match very positive. If somebody ask me before the tournament that I'm gonna be in the fourth round, I would just take it, but I just feel that I achieved a lot," Krejcikova said.

"I mean, I played Ash. Ash is amazing. She knows how to play. She's No. 1. She's there for a reason. She belongs there.

"But the match was actually really close and I had my chances. I just didn't convert them. Against a player as Ash is, you actually have to convert everything."

Krejcikova praises Ash Barty's character

Krejcikova saves some special praise for the Aussie and said the loss didn't hurt as much considering Barty is such a 'good' person.

"I just felt it was a really good match. I'm actually happy that I did what I wanted to do and that I was playing my really good tennis.

"Also, Ash is really good person - so at the end, it hurts but it doesn't hurt that much, because she was just better today."

The Wimbledon quarter-final between Tomlljanovic and Barty will mark the first time two Australians faced each other at this stage in 41 years since Evonne Goolagong Cawley beat Wendy Turnbull.

But there has been some drama with the scheduling.

Ash Barty (pictured) celebrates in her Ladies' Singles Fourth Round match against Barbora Krejcikova.
Ash Barty (pictured) celebrates in her Ladies' Singles Fourth Round match against Barbora Krejcikova. (Photo by AELTC/Florian Eisele - Pool/Getty Images) (Pool via Getty Images)

Both stars will be force to back up and play their quarter-final on Tuesday, however a scheduling decision means Barty will have much more time to recover.

Wimbledon officials scheduled Barty and Krejcikova for 1pm local time on Monday, with the match finishing at 2.42pm.

But instead of putting Tomljanovic and Raducanu on court at the same time or shortly after, officials scheduled them for the last match of the day on Court 1.

This has allowed Barty at least seven hours longer to recover ahead of their clash.

with AAP

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