Wimbledon 2021: Ashleigh Barty Wins her First-Ever Wimbledon Title 

In three thrilling sets, Ashleigh Barty defeats Karolina Pliskova to become the latest Wimbledon ladies’ singles champion to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish. Barty 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3 victory over Pliskova confirms her as Australia’s first women’s singles champion in 41 years and also the first Australian woman to win the Wimbledon singles title since her mentor and idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley last won it in 1980. 

After also becoming the first Australian player in 46years to win the women’s major title at Roland Garros in 2019, the world number one now adds this championship to her profile to make it her second Grand Slam title triumph in 2years. 

Barty also appears to be the first number one seed to have won Wimbledon since Serena Williams won the tournament as the top seed in 2016. This year’s edition happens to be the first time both Pliskova and Barty would be playing in the Women’s singles final of this particular major tournament. 

Ashleigh Barty Final Post-Match Interview

Barty started the post-match interview by giving credit to Pliskova for the sensational performance she displayed against her: “This is incredible. I have to say to Kaira (Karolina Pliskova) congratulate you and your team on a fantastic tournament. I like testing myself against you and I am sure we will play many more matches

She added: “I genuinely have to thank every single person in this stadium, you have made my dream so special, so thank you so much.”

The two-time Grand Slam champion was asked what she told herself at the beginning of the third set after seeing Pliskova wins the second set to get back into the game: “At the start of the third I told myself to just keep fighting. She’s an incredible competitor, and she brought out the best in me. It was an exceptional match and I’m really proud that I was able to bring my best level, reset, just keep chipping away and hold my nerve at the end. I can’t thank my team enough, sacrificing their time and energy into my dream.”

The top-seeded Barty hopes she has made mentor and idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley proud by ending the 41-year-old drought for Australia in her closing address at the presentation ceremony: “I didn’t sleep a lot last night thinking of all the what-ifs, but coming out on to the Centre Court, I felt at home. And I hope I made Evonne proud.”

Both Players Road to the Final 

* Ashleigh Barty

First Round: beat Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 6-1 6-7(1) 6-1

Second Round: beat Anna Blinkova (Russia) 6-4 6-3

Third Round: beat Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) 6-3 7-5

Fourth Round: beat No. 14 Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) 7-5 6-3

Quater-Finals: beat Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) 6-1 6-3

Semi-Finals: beat No. 25 Angelique Kerber (Germany) 6-3 7-6(3)

* Karolina Pliskova

First Round: beat Tamara Zidanšek, 7-5, 6-4

Second Round: beat Donna Vekić, 6-2, 6-2

Third Round: beat Tereza Martincová, 6-3, 6-3

Fourth Round: beat Ludmilla Samsonova, 6-2, 6-3

Quater-Finals: beat Viktorija Golubic, 6-2, 6-2

Semi-Finals: beat No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

How the Match Happened 

Barty settled so fast into the game in the first set by dominating the shaky Pliskova with 12 winners and 2 aces. Pliskova, on the other hand, never had a single point to herself in the first three games of the opening set before double-faulting on break point to give Barty a 4-0 lead. 

The eighth-seeded Pliskova was quick to shake off her poor first set performance in the second set by fighting back to force a tiebreaker and even output a more productive service game. Ashleigh Barty was to serve for the match at 6-5 in the second set but she made lots of unforced forehand errors to bring Karolina Pliskova back into the match. 

The final set looked like a mirror image of the first set as Barty took a 3-0 lead and held her serve the rest of the way to win her second Grand Slam and first Wimbledon championship.