World No.1 Barty trumps Pliskova to win Wimbledon women’s crown

The 25-year-old World No.1 looked on course for an easy triumph as Pliskova suffered one of the worst starts ever in a Wimbledon final, but eventually needed her best to clinch a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 victory. After Pliskova struck a backhand into the net following one hour and 55 minutes, Barty sank to her knees in realisation of fulfilling her dream.

With tears in her eyes, she then climbed into the stands towards her team, a tradition started by compatriot Pat Cash when he won the men’s singles title in 1987. When she returned to the lush grass, she spoke of her joy of emulating her idol Evonne Goolagong, who won the second of her two Wimbledon titles in 1980, since when no Australian woman had won the singles.

“I said just keep fighting,” Barty, who throughout the fortnight has worn a retro outfit similar to the one Goolagong wore 50 years ago, said on court after receiving the gleaming Venus Rosewater Dish from the Duchess of Cambridge.

“Karolina brought out the best of me. It took me a long time to verbalise that I wanted to win this incredible tournament. Being able to live out my dream right now is better than I ever could have imagined. I hope I made Evonne proud.”For the first set, only one showed up. Eighth seed Pliskova, whose only previous Slam final ended in defeat at the US Open in 2016, suffered the worst nightmare.

Her feet seemed stuck in clay, her arms in a straight jacket and her mind in a fog as Barty helped herself to the first 14 points of the match. When she got on the scoreboard thanks to a Barty error, a huge cheer broke the tension.

After a double fault left her 0-4 down, it was hard to see how she would win a game, let alone the title. But, Pliskova is made of tougher stuff. The 29-year-old broke the Barty serve to love to win her first game, only to surrender serve for the third time in the match.

Barty’s level was dragged down too by the mediocre resistance and she lost consecutive games before taking a bizarre opening set. Pliskova posed a good fight in the final two sets, but her effort wasn’t enough.

Result: Women’s singles: Final: Ashleigh Barty beat Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3