Ashleigh Barty after beating Karolina Pliskova to lift the Wimbledon title in 2021. PA
Ashleigh Barty after beating Karolina Pliskova to lift the Wimbledon title in 2021. PA
Ashleigh Barty after beating Karolina Pliskova to lift the Wimbledon title in 2021. PA
Ashleigh Barty after beating Karolina Pliskova to lift the Wimbledon title in 2021. PA

Ashleigh Barty holds off Karolina Pliskova fightback to win Wimbledon title


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Ashleigh Barty paid the ultimate tribute to Evonne Goolagong in the 50th anniversary year of her fellow Australian's historic Wimbledon triumph by emulating her hero and winning the Championships on Saturday.

Barty, who throughout the tournament wore a dress inspired by Goolagong's scallop-trim outfit from her 1971 title-winning year, held off a spirited fightback from Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova to win the final 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 for her second Grand Slam title.

“I hope I made Evonne proud,” an emotional Barty said in her post-match interview as she choked back the tears.

The top seed and world No 1 looked to be marching to victory when she won the first 13 points of the match on her way to a 4-0 lead. Pliskova appeared to struggle with her movement and timing and her vicious serve refused to behave. It was a clear sign of nerves from Pliskova and Barty was more than happy to capitalise.

Pliskova soon shrugged off the tension, though, and a break to love for 4-1 got her on the board. Barty did break back immediately as Pliskova's issues on serve continued, but another break with the Australian serving for the set suggested the Czech could find a way back into the match.

The first set was a lost cause — as Barty served it out to love — but a far more competitive second set followed, although it looked like it would be another cakewalk when Barty broke and held for a 3-1 lead.

However, Pliskova's serve finally started firing and as the world No 13 grew in confidence, she clawed her way back to level at 3-3. The set stayed on serve until Pliskova inexplicably collapsed after leading 40-0, but she responded by breaking Barty as she served for the match to send the set into a tiebreak.

A tense and thrilling tiebreak ensued, of which Pliskova assumed control when she won the point of the match for a 5-2 lead having chased down a ball at the net before thumping an overhead winner. The Czech earned herself three set points and eventually converted the third to send the final into a decider.

Finally the packed out, capacity crowd on Centre Court had a contest to get behind, but just as the match looked to be finely-poised, Barty once again struck out into an early lead after breaking Pliskova in the second game.

The rest of the set stayed on serve and Barty was again given the chance to serve out the match. After fending off a break point, the Australian brought up her first match point with an ace down the middle and she sealed the championship when Pliskova put a backhand into the net.

Having emulated Goolagong by winning the title Barty followed, quite literally, in the footsteps of another Australian Wimbledon champion by 'doing a Pat Cash' and climbing up the Centre Court tiers to celebrate with her team in the player's box.

This is incredible,” Barty, 25, said. “I want to thank everyone in this stadium. You've made my dream so special, thank you very much.

“It took me a long time to verbalise, to dare to dream it and say it. I didn't sleep a lot last night, I was thinking of all the what-ifs.”

While Barty has now won both of her Grand Slam finals, having clinched her first major at the 2019 French Open, Pliskova is 0-2 from her title match appearances.

“Thank you so much to everyone here today, I enjoyed every minute of playing on this court,” Pliskova, 29, said. “I never cry, never, and now … I want to say Ash played an incredible tournament, I fought to make it difficult for her but she played very well.

“No matter which trophy I have, we have an incredible three weeks here.”

While you're here
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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Key fixtures from January 5-7

Watford v Bristol City

Liverpool v Everton

Brighton v Crystal Palace

Bournemouth v AFC Fylde or Wigan

Coventry v Stoke City

Nottingham Forest v Arsenal

Manchester United v Derby

Forest Green or Exeter v West Brom

Tottenham v AFC Wimbledon

Fleetwood or Hereford v Leicester City

Manchester City v Burnley

Shrewsbury v West Ham United

Wolves v Swansea City

Newcastle United v Luton Town

Fulham v Southampton

Norwich City v Chelsea

PULITZER PRIZE 2020 WINNERS

JOURNALISM 

Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica

Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.

Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times

Explanatory Reporting
Staff of The Washington Post

Local Reporting  
Staff of The Baltimore Sun

National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica

and    

Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times

International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times

Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker

Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times

Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times

Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press

Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker

Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters

Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press

Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”

LETTERS AND DRAMA

Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson

History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)

Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)

Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)

General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

and

"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)

Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019

Special Citation
Ida B. Wells

 

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Updated: June 28, 2022, 2:42 PM`