It is one thing to dream of winning Wimbledon; it is another to tell the world that you want to win Wimbledon. And it is another again to come within touching distance of doing it.

Ashleigh Barty is two matches away from making her lifelong dream come true. Until this year, her best result in SW19 was reaching the fourth round two years ago.

Yet now Angelique Kerber is the only obstacle in her path to the final. Although ‘only’ does not do Kerber justice – she was as impressive in her 6-2, 6-3 win over Karolina Muchova as Barty was in her 6-1, 6-3 pummelling of Ajla Tomljanovic.

“This is my dream,” Barty said. “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 world, the way we're living at the moment, I think it's incredible that we're able to play, compete, have people enjoy it with us. So I'm certainly enjoying every single minute that I get out on those courts.”

That’s the dream bit taken care of but how do you cope with the pressure? The personal expectations? The national expectations as you represent the sports-mad land of Australia? Come on Ash: spill the beans.

But, as it turns out, there aren’t any beans to spill. Barty is one of the most down to earth and straight forward international superstars you could hope to meet. Does she read the press or listen to the excitement building back home? No.

Does she do anything differently now that she is in the last four? No. Does she…oh, never mind. We are getting nowhere here. Tell it like it is, Ash.

“I think I'm extremely lucky to get a lot of support all around the world,” she said. “As Australian tennis players, we're in one of the few countries that are a Grand Slam nation. Without a doubt it adds to the excitement, it adds to the calendar that we do have a tournament in our own backyard.

“For me it's not a fact of liking it, disliking it, being overwhelmed. It makes it fun. It's enjoyable. To have people enjoying the tennis with me, with us on the court, makes it all the more fun because I think there are memories on tennis courts. Some are heart-breaking and some you never forget.”

The nuts and bolts of the semi-final are fairly simple: they have played four times before and have two wins apiece. But all those matches were on a hard court; grass is different challenge, one that Kerber is more familiar with.

“It adds to the challenge,” Barty said. “Angie obviously has an incredible record here. She's made multiple finals. She's one of the best grass courters going around. I think the challenge of playing her in a semi-final of Wimbledon is an incredible opportunity, one that I'm really excited for.

"It's not scary or overwhelming, it's just exciting. It's exciting to have the challenge of playing someone who is comfortable on these courts, who knows how to win this tournament.”

As for the gameplan, Barty was keeping that to herself – all she was willing to reveal was quite how much of a danger Kerber can be on Centre Court. She wasn’t letting on how she could or would counter that.

“I think we're very different players,” she said. “Everyone is obviously their own unique player. Tactically they manoeuvre their way around the court differently.

But I think I like to try and use my variety as best I can. I like to use my weapons when I can.

“I know one of Angie's greatest assets is the fact that she can run and hunt and put the ball in an awkward situation to nullify my aggression and kind of my weapons at times. It's a really fine balance.”

And that was it. She was off to prepare for Thursday (she is a bit of a bookworm and curling up with a good read is her way of having fun in the Wimbledon bubble) knowing that she had moved one step closer to making her dream come true.

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