Ash Barty achieves ‘childhood dream’ by reaching maiden Wimbledon singles final

By Chris De Silva08 Jul 2021 14:05

She’s done it! Ash Barty is through to her first Wimbledon final after a straight-sets win over 2018 champion Angelique Kerber!

“That is a match Ash Barty will remember for a long time,” Todd Woodbridge says.

“She was forced to come back from 2-5 down in that second set and played some amazing tennis.”

Barty is clearly chuffed with that result and credits Kerber for making her reach a level she hasn’t reached just yet in order to secure that win.

The world No.1 says Saturday’s final is “a chance to live out a childhood dream”.

Kerber will be bitterly disappointed in the way her game fell apart after taking a decisive 5-2 lead and looking like she was on the brink of forcing a deciding third set.

After holding her own serve to force Kerber to serve out the set, Barty flipped the script in stunning fashion by winning 11 consecutive points to eventually send the set to a tiebreaker.

Barty’s onslaught seemed to rock Kerber early in the tiebreak, with the German veteran making some uncharacteristic errors as the Aussie romped out to a 6-0 lead, virtually putting the match out of sight.

Kerber was cruelled by a number of errors in the tiebreaker, with Woodbridge saying that she gave the world No.1 “a couple of gifts”, including a double-fault.

While Barty endured some nerves after taking a 6-0 lead as Kerber fought tooth and nail to survive, she was eventually able to grab her fourth match point.

The 25-year-old Ipswich native is the first Australian woman to reach a Wimbledon singles final since Evonne Goolagong Cawley did it back in 1980.

On that occasion, Goolagong Cawley claimed her second Wimbledon title, will Barty be able to grab her first?

Barty will face the winner of the second semi-final between Karolína Plíšková and No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka.