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sports Diabierna 9 Juli 2021

No. 1 Barty to face Pliskova in 1st Wimbledon final for both

(AP) — It was difficult for Ash Bar- ing to make the final.’”
ty to imagine that a trip to her first The 25-year-old Barty won the 2019
Wimbledon final was just around the French Open and has been atop the WTA
corner when she stopped playing at rankings for 1 1/2 years.
last month’s French Open with a hip
injury. She is the first woman from Australia to
reach the title match at Wimbledon since
Or even when she was two points from Evonne Goolagong won the trophy 1980;
being pushed to a third set by Angelique Barty has been wearing an outfit intended
Kerber in their semifinal at the All Eng- as a tribute to Goolagong this fortnight.
land Club.
“Now to kind of give myself a chance to
Barty does not let obstacles trouble her create some history, almost in a way that’s
for too long. She figures out a way and a tribute to her, is really exciting,” Barty
pushes forward. That’s why she’s ranked said.
No. 1 and it’s why she stands one win
from a second Grand Slam title after beat- She arrived in England not having com-
ing 2018 champion Kerber 6-3, 7-6 (3) on peted since June 3, when she withdrew
Thursday. during her second-round match in Paris,
her left hip in too much pain to continue.
“I’ve had ups and downs and everything
in between and I wouldn’t change one “To be honest, it was going to be touch
day or one moment or one, kind of, road and go. Everything had to be spot on to
that we’ve taken in my path and my jour- give myself a chance to play pain-free
ney,” said Barty, who was the 2011 junior and to play knowing that I could trust my
champion at the All England Club and body,” Barty said. “If you told me a month
stepped away from tennis for almost two ago we’d be sitting in this position, I re-
years starting in 2014 because of burnout. ally wouldn’t have thought that we would
“It’s been unique. It’s been incredible. It’s even get close.”
been tough. There have been so many
things that led to this point.” On Thursday, she faced a big test in the
second set, which Kerber was two points
Her opponent in Saturday’s final will from owning when Barty served at deuce
be No. 8 seed Karolina Pliskova, who while trailing 5-2. The full-capacity crowd
emerged from a power-hitting and serv- was backing the comeback effort for the
ing display to come back to defeat No. 2 33-year-old German, too, with shouts of
Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. “Come on, Angie!” and “Go on, Kerber!”

“Super proud about the way how I han- But Barty steeled herself to hold there,
dled the situation out there,” Pliskova then broke to get within 5-4 with a cross-
said. court forehand passing winner.

Pliskova produced 14 aces, Sabalenka 18, That was part of a 38-16 advantage in total
and the combined total was the most in winners for Barty, responsible more than
a women’s match at Wimbledon since anything else for her triumph. And this
they started keeping such stats in 1977. was remarkable: She compiled that many
The difference in this match, ultimately: point-ending shots while making only 16
Pliskova was broken just once, Sabalenka unforced errors.
twice.
“A great level, the best level I’ve played in
After going 0 for 8 on break points in the quite some time,” Barty said. “Angie is an
first set, the first set she dropped in six incredible competitor. She brought out
matches, Pliskova “got a bit frustrated,” the best in me today.”
she acknowledged afterward.
It was a rather entertaining and, from
But she went 1 for 1 in that category in point to point, rather even contest, two
each of the last two sets. talented baseliners willing to try a volley,
drop shot or lob when required. They
“She just returned like crazy — like, re- were each other’s equal for long exchang-
ally good — and I couldn’t do anything,” es — in all, 22 points lasted at least nine
said Sabalenka, the only top-20 seed in the strokes, with Kerber winning a dozen.
draw without a major quarterfinal appear-
ance until now. Their approaches are different, though.
Kerber is a left-hander who hits flat
Neither Pliskova — whose coach, Sascha groundstrokes and is just fine with han-
Bajin, used to work with Naomi Osaka dling foes’ low shots, often dropping a
and was Serena Williams’ hitting part- knee onto the turf to get leverage.
ner — nor Barty had ever been past the
fourth round at the grass-court Grand Barty is a righty who relies on heavy top-
Slam tournament. spin for a forehand packed with power,
and her slice backhand can produce tricky
“Coming into this tournament, the dream bounces on the grass.
was to make the second week. ... Sascha
was super confident in me,” said Pliskova, She ended up with an 8-0 edge in aces and
a 29-year-old from the Czech Republic 18-9 in forehand winners.
who was the runner-up at the 2016 U.S.
Open to Kerber and used to be ranked “I was trying to playing my game,” Kerber
No. 1. “He said, ‘I told you, you were go- said. “But she had always a good answer.”