Barty earns her chance to end the Oz drought
Ash Barty first walked through the gates of the all England Club aged 15 — and promptly won the junior girls’ title.
ten years on, she is in the final of the main event and it has been an eventful decade. Early progress on the main tour, disillusionment, a season away in professional cricket and winning the French Open are all among the experiences she has collected.
Now she faces Karolina Pliskova in the final with another anniversary in mind — the 50 years since Evonne Goolagong won her first championship at Wimbledon.
Barty has been wearing a scallop-trimmed skirt in tribute to the last australian woman to win at sW19. It remained largely unruffled yesterday as she picked apart angelique Kerber to win their semi-final 6-3, 7-6.
the world No1 from Ipswich — the one in Queensland — plays and carries herself unobtrusively. her game was smart and varied enough to outwit Kerber, who is also more than just a big hitter.
sharing a partial aboriginal heritage with Goolagong, Barty will try to end australia’s female singles drought in these parts, going back to Goolagong’s last win in 1980.
‘If you’d told me a month ago we’d be sitting in this position, I really wouldn’t have thought that we would even get close,’ admitted the 25-year-old.
On June 3 she had retired from her French Open second round after injuring her hip in practice and did not have the benefit of a warm-up tournament for Wimbledon.
‘We had 24 days between finishing up in Paris and my first round here,’ sje added. ‘to be honest, it was going to be touch and go. Everything had to be spot on to give myself a chance to play pain-free and know I could trust my body.
‘My body’s held up over a fortnight of different preparation. It wasn’t limited but it was different. I could trust everything that we’ve done to the best of our ability.
‘I’m extremely fortunate to have my team around me. they’re the best in the business.
‘I’m pretty excited that I could repay them the favour and do something special this week.’
Barty has been reading airport novels on the 45-minute coach journey to and from the official bubble hotel in Westminster, which is a different routine from staying locally in Wimbledon. apart from that, everything has felt familiar.
‘That feeling when I walked through the gates of the all England Club for the first time when I was 15 — that is still the same each and every day I walk through the gates now,’ she said.
Tomorrow she faces the power of someone eight inches taller, but her supremely fast hands and natural eye make Barty well equipped for the task.
Kerber, the 2018 champion who has been in a relative slump for most of the time since, pointed out what Pliskova will face, saying: ‘ash is really intelligent player. she knows how to play with her slice and then she’s moving forward with her forehand.
‘she really served well. she has a lot of confidence and she’s played a lot of big matches.’
the Centre Court, full apart from some late lunchers at the start, watched as Barty surged into the lead in the first set and then recovered from 3-5 in the second to win. a run of ten straight points late on carried her to 6-0 in the tiebreak, which effectively sealed the match.
It was a very different encounter to the power-hitting of the second semi-final and tomorrow will see a big contrast of physiques as well as styles.