Ashleigh Barty of Australia recovered from dropping the second set in a tiebreak to beat fellow first-time Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3 and win her second Grand Slam title.
The top-seeded Barty raced to a 4-0 lead in just 11 minutes. Pliskova managed to earn two breaks with 100% break point conversion in the first set, but the eighth-seeded Czech never really endangered her opponent who sealed the set with a love hold.
Barty’s momentum continued early into the second set, as it looked like we would have a short and straightforward final. Supported by her husband Michal Hrdlicka and coach Sascha Bajin, Pliskova heated things up by going from 1-3 to 4-3, but another confident hold from Barty leveled the set a 4-all.
It looked like Pliskova’s chances to win her first major title were slim to none when Barty broke her and served for the match at 6-5, but the former world No.1 stayed alive and dominated the tiebreak with some brilliant shots. The Czech earned four set points at 6-2 in the tiebreak and used her third as Barty double-faulted.
In the third set, Barty earned an early break for a 2-0 lead and never lost that advantage as she beat Pliskova in one hour and fifty-five minutes on her first match point.
En route to her second Grand Slam title, the 25-year-old Barty defeated Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round, Anna Blinkova in the second, Katerina Siniakova in the third, reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth, Ajla Tomljanovic in the quarterfinals, 2018 Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the semifinals, and finally Pliskova.
During these two weeks in London, Barty sported a unique Fila kit inspired by Australian tennis legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley. In the coming days, the collection will be available at Tennis Warehouse.
Barty will extend her stay at No.1 WTA rankings. The week of July 12th will be her 77th consecutive week (84th overall) at the summit. Pliskova is projected to move to No.7 by making the final. Having lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish, the 2019 French Open champion Barty has become the 11th active player with multiple Slam titles to her name.
