Ash’s Gong show
CHAMP’S SALUTE: ‘I HOPE I’VE MADE EVONNE PROUD’
ASHLEIGH BARTY showed why she’s the top gun on the women’s tour with a “miracle” win over Karolina Pliskova.
The world No.1 took full advantage of the stage fright her Czech opponent suffered in the first set.
And despite a rally from Pliskova in the second, Barty went on to win pretty comfortably 6-3 6-7 (7-4) 6-3 in 1hr 55mins.
In doing so, she became only the fourth person to claim the women’s singles final at the All England Club after having lifted the girls’ junior singles title here.
And she also became only the second Aussie woman to get her hands on the Venus Rosewater Dish after her mentor and twotime winner Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who is celebrating the 50th anniversary of her first win.
Afterwards, Barty was quick to acknowledge her bond to the trailblazing legend and said: “I hope I’ve made Evonne proud.”
Goolagong Cawley’s last triumph on Centre Court came back in 1980 – the year before an unknown actor called Tom Cruise got his break in Hollywood with the release of Endless Love.
Cruise was in attendance yesterday, and though it wasn’t a classic final, the third set treated the crowd to some fine tennis as Barty claimed her second Grand Slam, after her 2019 French Open victory.
She said: “To be successful here at Wimbledon, to achieve my biggest dream, is absolutely incredible.
“And to think it happened on the anniversary of Evonne’s first victory here is incredible, too.
“Wimbledon is where tennis was born, where so many hopes and dreams were born.”
Barty suffered a hip injury at
the French Open in June and was touch and go even to play at Wimbledon. She added: “To be able to play here at all was nothing short of a miracle.”
She stormed into a 4-0 lead after winning the first 14 points of the match. But Pliskova (below) did enough to see she wouldn’t suffer a 6-0 6-0 defeat as she did in the Italian Open final this year. “I was thinking about the final in Rome and I thought, ‘This cannot be possible, it can’t happen again’,” she revealed.
She showed her mettle in the second
set and finally found some rhythm to make something of a contest of it.
But the unforced errors returned in the final set as Barty sealed the deal.
Pliskova added: “It was a horrible start so I’m proud I found a way back, even though I was not even close to winning.”