Barty triumphs at Wimbledon
No. 1-ranked player defeats Pliskova for first Wimbledon championship
It’s Grand Slam title No. 2 for the world’s top-ranked player, who is the first Australian woman to win the event since 1980.
WIMBLEDON, England — Everything came so easily for Ash Barty at the start of the Wimbledon final. Hard to believe one player would grab the first 14 points of a major championship match.
Surely, it couldn’t stay that one-sided, right? Of course not.
Still, Barty used that perfect start and a strongenough finish to get the job done, holding off Karolina Pliskova’s comeback bid to win 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 at the All England Club on Saturday for her second Grand Slam title.
“It took me a long time to verbalize the fact that I wanted to dare to dream it and say I wanted to win this incredible tournament. I didn’t sleep a lot last night. I was thinking of all the whatifs,” the No. 1-ranked Barty said. “But I think when I was coming out on this court, I felt at home, in a way.”
She adds this trophy to the one she won at the French Open in 2019.
Barty is the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. Barty was a teenager when they first met and she considers Goolagong Cawley an inspiration and a mentor.
“Evonne is a very special person in my life,” said Barty, whose outfit was a tribute to the dress Goolagong Cawley wore when she won the tournament for the first time, 50 years ago. “I think she has been iconic in paving a way for young Indigenous youth to believe in their dreams and to chase their dreams. She’s done exactly that for me as well.”
Barty, 25, was the Wimbledon junior champion a decade ago, then left the tennis tour for nearly two years in 2014 because of burnout.
Pliskova dropped to 0-2 in major finals; she also was runner-up at the 2016 U.S. Open.
“Horrible start,” said Pliskova, a former No. 1. “That’s why I’m more, like, proud about the way [I found] a way back in that match.”