Barty living her dream as she cruises to her first Wimbledon semifinal

Ashleigh Barty continues to build an impressive resume in 2021, as the World No.1 breezed past compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic to advance to her maiden semifinal at the Wimbledon Championships.

The top seed needed a little over an hour to dispatch of her countrywoman, securing the 6-1 6-3 victory to get one step closer to winning her second Major title (Roland Garros 2019).

"This is my dream," Barty said after the match. "I'm in an extremely fortunate position that I'm getting to do what I love, getting to do what I dreamt as a kid. So I think I've just got a whole lot of gratitude for the fact that I get to come out here and do what I love."

The top seed extended her winning streak over fellow Aussies to six matches, with her last loss coming at the hands of Daria Gavrilova in the 2017 Strasbourg quarterfinals. Despite experiencing some difficulties on her serve, the 25-year old raised the level of her ground game to stop Tomljanovic from disrupting her rhythm.

"Today I was able to use my weapons a little bit better and just bring the ball back into my patterns a bit more regularly," Barty said. "I certainly wasn't as loose as I have been with errors and kind of ill-timed lapses, I suppose. But I felt really sharp today. I felt like I knew I needed to bring that level in order to match it with Ajla."

Awaiting Barty in the semifinals is 2018 champion Angelique Kerber, who defeated Karolina Muchova in their quarterfinal encounter.

"Angie obviously has an incredible record here. She's made multiple finals. She's one of the best grass courters going around," admitted Barty. "I think the challenge of playing her in a semifinal of Wimbledon is an incredible opportunity, one that I'm really excited for.

"It's exciting to have the challenge of playing someone who is comfortable on these courts, who knows how to win this tournament."