Ashleigh Barty Wins Her Maiden Wimbledon title beating Pliskova In The Final

Australia’s world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty wins the second Grand Slam title after beating Karolina Pliskova in the Wimbledon 2021 final 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 on Saturday.

The top-seeded Barty adds this championship to the one she won at the French Open in 2019.

“This is incredible,” said Barty, in tears. “It took me a long time to verbalise, to dare to dream it and say it.”

After climbing up into the stands to hug her team, she told the Centre Court crowd: “I didn’t sleep a lot last night. I was thinking of all the what-ifs. I hope I made Evonne proud.

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“I have to thank every single person in this stadium. You’ve made my dream so special,” she said. 

Barty, who acquired the junior Wimbledon title in 2011, has become the fourth woman in the Open era to go on to also lift the women’s title after Britain’s Ann Jones, Swiss Martina Hingis and France’s Amelie Mauresmo.

She has been sporting a scallop-hem dress in tribute to Goolagong Cawley, her idol, friend and mentor on her 50th anniversary. 

“I know how to lose, believe me”

Pliskova’s progress to the final had been somewhat under the radar because of a poor run in the build-up.

Her only previous Grand Slam final was the 2016 US Open, and since then she had reached only two more major semi-finals before this year’s Wimbledon.

Coming into the match she had hit a tournament-leading 54 aces but in the first set here she managed none at all.

She fired five aces in the second as that part of her game began to improve but her nerves were still visible at the changeovers when she repeatedly jigged her legs up and down.

Her emotions spilled over during her on-court interview as her voice broke, saying: “I never cry, never, and now…”

She later added: “It was not the plan to cry because I don’t want to cry on the court. I feel like, OK, cry in the locker room, but not on the court. Somehow I could not.”

“Of course there’s going to be next chances. I think plenty of them. I’m not going to give up on that,” she vowed to come back stronger.

“In the end, the result is we both tried to win so somebody has to lose. You have to accept that. I will definitely.”

“I know how to lose, believe me. I’m so good in that.”

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