World No.1 Ashleigh Barty wins 2021 Wimbledon championship after defeating Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova in three sets.
As Karolina Pliskova and Ashleigh Barty walked on to the Centre Court for the final, their tournament accreditation badges were swinging from each of their racket bags as if each woman were reminding herself: remember who you are.
Yet in the first women’s final since 1977 where neither contender had ever reached the ultimate decider before, in Pliskova’s case it showed so much that for much of the opening set she played as if she could barely recall her own name.
Few would have thought that from those toe-curling beginnings, there would emerge an utterly riveting contest. Not since 2012 has the women’s final gone the distance, and ultimately it was Barty who lasted the course to triumph 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 in five minutes under two hours. Fifty years after Evonne Goolagong became the first indigenous Australian to win Wimbledon, Barty walked a dance of joy in her footsteps.
“This is incredible,” she said before congratulating Pliskova. “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.
“Match point? I can’t remember it! Being able to live out my dream with everyone here has made it better than I could ever have imagined. 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.”
There may have been more disastrous starts to a Championship match, but watching Pliskova it was very difficult to summon one to mind. Barty would have been aiming to force enough points off the Czech’s serve to tip the balance in her favour, yet for a long while very little force was required. Fourteen long points were lost before Pliskova got on the board.
MATCH STATISTICS
| AB | KP | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | ACES | 6 |
| 7 | DOUBLE FAULTS | 5 |
| 54/89(61%) | 1st SERVE IN | 54/77(70%) |
| 6/8(75%) | BREAK POINTS WON | 4/5(80%) |
| 30 | WINNERS | 27 |
| 29 | UNFORCED ERRORS | 32 |
| 88 | TOTAL POINTS WON | 78 |
