Dream comes true for Ashleigh Barty as she beats battling Karolina Pliskova to win maiden Wimbledon title

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Ashleigh Barty kisses Wimbledon trophy

Ashleigh Barty made a red-hot start in the Wimbledon final and even though Karolina Pliskova made a fist of things after a nightmare start, the Australian held firm to win a maiden title at SW19.

With the trophy, Barty became a two-time Grand Slam winner following her 2018 Roland Garros success while she is also the second Indigenous Australian to win the Wimbledon title after her mentor Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.

The world No 1 made a blistering start and when you win the first 14 points of a final and, after holding off a fighting Pliskova, she eventually ran out a 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 winner in one hour and 56 minutes on Centre Court.

With the Czech tight on her own serve, Barty raced into a 4-0 lead in the opening set, but Pliskova eventually got on the board, although not on her own serve as she broke in game five.

After the duo traded breaks again, Barty finally produced a solid service game as she served out the 28-minute opening set to love.

Although Pliskova made a solid start to the second set, Barty soon found herself in the driving set with a break to love in game three and there were fears that the match could be over under an hour.

However, the Czech refused to go down without a fight and it was her turn to break to love in game six to draw level.

Pliskova’s serve started to fire and finally there was a contest on Centre Court with both players producing excellent tennis to win points. But Barty put the foot down in the 11th game and sliced and hustled her way to a crucial break after initially finding herself 40-0 down.

Coming out to serve for the Championship, Barty then produced a loose game and Pliskova broke back to take it to a tie-breaker and the Czech was now at her best as she got two mini-breaks to race into a 6-1 lead. An unforced error saw her lose the first set point, but a Barty double fault meant it went to a decider.

Barty was tested on her serve in the opening game, but she managed to win the game and then suddenly found herself 0-40 up on the Pliskova serve as the nerves returned for the Czech. After saving the first break point, Pliskova smashed an easy volley into the net to gift Barty a 2-0 lead.

Pliskova battled bravely to break back and she had a sniff in the eighth game as she eked out a break point, but Barty was not to be denied and this time she served it out at to realise her childhood dream.

“I have to thank everyone in this stadium, you have made my dream so special,” she said during the trophy presentation. “At the start of the third set I just told myself to keep fighting. Karo is an exceptional player but I’m really proud of how I managed to reset. Match point? I can’t remember it!

“It took me a long time to dare to dream about winning this tournament. It’s better than I ever could have imagined. I hope I made Evonne proud!”

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Ashleigh Barty Karolina Pliskova

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