Ashleigh Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, captured the prestigious Wimbledon trophy for the first time on Saturday thanks to a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 win over Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. The Australian, who had never made it past the Round of 16 in six previous attempts at the All-England Club, won the second Grand Slam title of her career and solidified her position atop the WTA rankings.
Despite the nerves that usually accompany such an important final, Barty started the match in brilliant fashion, breaking Pliskova’s serve twice and winning 14 consecutive points to jump out to a 4-0 lead. The Czech tried her best to close the gap, but the World No. 1 held on to close out the set after 29 minutes of play.
In the second set, Barty seemed well on her way to victory, but Pliskova showed resilience and managed to fight her way out of a jam to stay neck and neck with her rival, forcing a tiebreak. She seemed to regain her composure in the breaker, scecuring three mini breaks before levelling the score at one set apiece.
Just as she had done in the previous two sets, Barty didn’t waste any time taking control of the deciding set by breaking Pliskova’s serve in the second game. She proceeded to defend her slim lead tooth and nail to triumph after an hour and 59 minute battle.
Barty becomes the first Australian to be crowned Wimbledon champion since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980, and the first women’s World No. 1 to win the prestigious trophy since 2016 (Serena Williams).
