Barty beats Kerber to reach her 1st Wimbledon final
Berlin — World number one Ash Barty overcame a second-set scare to reach the Wimbledon final for the first time on Thursday, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) against former champion Angelique Kerber.
Australia’s Barty, 25, rallied from 5-2 down in the set for victory in 1 hour 26 minutes on fourth match point.
The 2019 French Open champ Barty will face Karolina Pliskova in the trophy match on Saturday after the Czech star came back from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the other semi-final.
Barty, who won the Wimbledon junior title in 2011, fired eight aces and 38 winners as she now aims for her fourth title of the year and 16th overall.
Former number one Kerber won the title in 2018 and was a finalist in 2016 but failed to reach the decider again despite a spirited fight-back after the lost first set.
“Being able to play on the final Saturday at Wimbledon is going to be just the best experience ever,” Barty said on court.
“This is as close to as good a tennis match as I’ll ever play. Angie brought the best out of me. I’m incredibly proud of myself and my team and now we get a chance on Saturday to try to live out our childhood dream.”
Barty was again wearing a dress similar to that of her Australian idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley who won the title in 1971 and 1980 and 41 years ago was also the last women’s finalist from Down Under.
She started with a double fault and needed to save two break points before winning the opening game, and she was 2-0 up when Kerber failed to bury an overhead shot which Barty brought back with a blistering forehand passing shot.
Kerber did better on the next overhead to get on the scoreboard for 3-1 but Barty went on to claim the set in the ninth game with an ace after 36 minutes, after fighting off a break point.
Kerber became more aggressive and finally converted her sixth break point of the match on a Barty groundstroke that went wide en route to a quick 3-0 lead in the second.
Kerber was two points away from levelling the sets in the eighth game only to drop serve at love in the next game as Barty eventually forced a tiebreak where she raced off to a 6-0 lead.
The German bravely saved the first three but it was all over on Barty’s fourth chance.
“To go from Centre Court with a stanading ovation is the best
feelin you can have,” said Kerber. “I’ve lost but I’ll take this journey with me.
“I’m unbelievably proud and grateful.”
World number 28 Kerber is leaving with positive memories after first-round losses at the Australian and French Open this year. She had boosted her Wimbledon morale with a first title in three years in Bad Homburg.