Ashleigh Barty Wins Wimbledon Women’s Singles Title

But Pliskova battled once more, breaking Barty’s faltering serve once more to force a tiebreaker. Handed a new lease on life, Pliskova did not waste it, chasing down balls in the back and front of the court as Barty’s first serve all but disappeared. Barty would double-fault on set point. The match headed to a deciding third set.

“I enjoyed every minute of being on this court,” Pliskova said after the match.

It did not start well for Pliskova, who played an awful service game at 0-1, netting a wide-open forehand volley to give Barty another early service break. After that, Barty started to roll once more, curling her forehands again and landing her serves into the corners of the box.

Pliskova hung in, stretching the points and the games as long as she could, forcing Barty to keep going for winners, but as resilient as she was she could not mount that one last comeback. Serving for the match a second time, Barty flirted with disaster, giving Pliskova a chance to break her serve once more, but on match point she lulled Pliskova into one more error. As Pliskova’s backhand hit the net, Barty clutched her head in disbelief having achieved her childhood dream.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/sports/tennis/wimbledon-ashleigh-barty-karolina-pliskova.html