Sure when Ashleigh Barty won the junior title at Wimbledon in 2011 she envisioned one day lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish as the senior champion of the British tournament. Ten years later, the Australian who was 15 at the time and has now turned 25, made her adolescent dream come true by winning this Saturday in the final 6-3, 6-7 (4) and 6-3 in 1: 55 to Karolina Pliskova to treasure a double that only three other tennis players had achieved in the history of the Grand Slam of grass: Ann Jones, Martina Hingis and Amelie Mauresmo. To celebrate, with tears in his eyes, he went up to the stands and hugged his team and his partner. “This is incredible. You have all made this dream special. It was better than I could have imagined. Last night I hardly slept,” she said excitedly.
It is the fourth consecutive year in which the defending champion has not repeated success. The last one to do it was Serena Williams in 2016, at that time number one in the world, as is Barty and will almost certainly continue to be until the end of the year. Equality in the women’s circuit is evident in the majors and an example of this is that in 11 of the last 12 seasons the first three are always won by a different player. This course, the winners have been Osaka, Krejcikova and Barty, who is the one that has won the most WTA titles (9) since 2019 and has a 78% percentage of victories on grass, the third best record among those who remain active after sisters Serena and Venus Williams. The aussie, champion of Roland Garros in 2019 and Her country’s first to succeed in London since Evonne Goolagong in 1980 (“I hope she’s proud of me,” Ash said), she is also the 11th woman with more than one Slam title today, on a list where The Spanish Garbiñe Muguruza is featured.
These are the data that adorn the feat of Barty, perhaps the most stable tennis player on the international scene and the most different due to her varied and complicated style of play, with her more than remarkable service, that near-perfect cut backhand that takes a devilish spin on grass and a powerful drive when hit in good position. He hugged Pliskova with him.
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The merit of the player born in Louny 29 years ago, who loses her second major final after the 2016 US Open, was forcing the third set, when he had practically lost the second with 6-5 against and the rest. In the tiebreaker, he extended a duel that Barty dominated mainly, among other things because Pliskova, who reached the final as leader in aces (54), only added another five and obtained little performance from his best weapon, despite the fact that he played with many first services (70%). Ash won it in almost every stat and didn’t break down at any point. This is how she went from a winning girl on track 1 to a champion woman in the center ten years later. Dreams sometimes come true.
Results and women’s table calendar.
Ashleigh Barty
vs
Karolina Pliskova
Sets:
