London: World number one Ashleigh Barty beat Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 to clinch the women's singles title at the Wimbledon Championships, here on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Australian needed only 28 minutes to take the first set in a convincing way, but the 29-year-old Pliskova fought hard to crawl back by winning the tiebreak 7-4 in the following set.In the deciding set, Barty broke early to keep the match under control and proved to be too good in the end.
"This is incredible. I have to thank every single person in this stadium. You've made my dream so special," said Barty after the win.
Barty reached her maiden Wimbledon final by ousting former champion Angelique Kerber in the last four and became the first Australian woman in 41 years to win a Wimbledon singles title.
Evonne Goolagong Cawley was the last Australian women tennis player to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish in 1980.
This was Barty's second Grand Slam title after she won the French Open in 2019. She also becomes the first woman to win Wimbledon as No 1 seed since Serena Williams in 2016.
The 2011 girls' champion, Barty is also the third player in the Open Era to back up a junior Wimbledon title with the senior one, following Ann Jones, Martina Hingis and Amélie Mauresmo.
Barty's triumph comes on the 50th anniversary of Goolagong Cawley's first Wimbledon title in 1971.Seven-time major champion Goolagong Cawley was the first Indigenous Australian to win a Grand Slam, and a trailblazer for players such as Barty, who was named Tennis Australia's National Indigenous Tennis Ambassador in 2018.
This year, Barty has paid sartorial tribute to Goolagong Cawley via her scallop-hemmed dress.(UNI)
