LONDON - World number one Ash Barty became the first Australian woman to win the Wimbledon singles title for 41 years on Saturday when she defeated Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3 in the final.
The 25-year-old Barty, who won her maiden Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2019, emulated her idol Evonne Goolagong who claimed the second of her All England Club titles in 1980.
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"I hope I made Evonne proud," Barty said on court after the trophy presentation. "This is incredible."
Ten years after winning the girls' singles title at Wimbledon as a 15-year-old, Barty came into Saturday's final having won five of the seven matches she had played against Pliskova.
She breezed to a 4-0 lead against the former world number one with a double break.
Pliskova appeared all at sea against the Australian's sharply dropping slices and precision hitting but managed a way to claw back into the contest by getting two service breaks back. But a third break of serve gave Barty the opening set.
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The Australian maintained her control in the second set, breaking in the third game to open up a 3-1 lead but Pliskova found a higher gear to level things at 3-3.
With Barty serving for the match Pliskova, who suffered a break from 40-0 up, broke back immediately to force a tie-break and then rode her confidence to level the match at 1-1.
"I hope I made Evonne proud"
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 10, 2021
We all know the answer to that question, @ashbarty 🇦![CDATA[]]>🇺#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/mt7BoQ6Kd8
The Australian managed to regroup and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the decider with an early break, which proved enough.
Barty converted her first match point when Pliskova committed a backhand unforced error, her 32nd of the match.
The Australian slumped to her knees and broke into tears, saying later she was unable to remember what happened on match point.
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"She brought out the best of me today," Barty added.
"I was proud of myself that I could keep chipping away at the start of the third set. It took me a while to say I wanted to win this tournament, but it's better than I ever imagined.
"I didn't sleep last night ... but I felt at home out on the court."
Reuters