The question that left Ash Barty in tears after winning Wimbledon. Video / Sky Sport
Ash Barty broke a 41-year drought as she beat Karolina Pliskova in three sets to win the Wimbledon final.
The Queenslander became the first Australian woman to win the singles title at the All England Club since her idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. The achievement will mean that much more to the 25-year-old knowing it comes on the 50th anniversary of Cawley's first Wimbledon title.
Barty did it the hard way, winning the first set then stumbling badly in the second after having the chance to serve for the championship. But she controlled the decider – her first serve troubles evened out by Pliskova's unforced errors – to triumph 6-3 6-7 6-3 and accomplish what has been a dream since childhood.
There were tears of joy as Barty broke down on Centre Court. She sunk to her knees and held her head in her hands, in shock at the whole situation.
Then she made the run up to her player's box, hugging her physio, boyfriend Garry Kissick and coach Craig Tyzzer as Barty became overwhelmed with emotion upon winning her second major singles title after the 2019 French Open.
Barty's voice cracked as that emotion flowed out when asked about Goolagong Cawley in the post-match presentation. More tears flowed as the Aussie said: "I hope I made Evonne proud."
Ashleigh Barty of Australia is presented with the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy by HRH Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge. Photo / Getty Images.
Speaking about the match, Barty added: "She (Pliskova) brought out the very best in me today and it was an exceptional match right from the start. I knew I had to bring my very best level and I was really proud of myself how I was able to reset (at the start of the third set) … and hold my nerve in the end."
Bart said she couldn't remember match point, much to the amusement of the crowd, and opened up on how special this trophy is to her.
"It took me a long time to verbalise the fact that I wanted to dare to dream and say I wanted to win this incredible tournament," Barty said. "Being able to live out my dream with everyone here has made it better than I ever could have imagined.
"I didn't sleep a lot last night, I was thinking about all the 'what ifs', but when I was coming out on this court I felt at home in a way. I think being able to share that with everyone here, to share that with my team is incredible."
Rattled by nerves, Pliskova wilted in the face of a Barty onslaught in the first set. The top seed had no trouble breezing through her opening service game then broke easily to love to take a quick 2-0 lead.
She held serve to love again as she won the first 14 points of the match. The previous most consecutive points won in a women's Wimbledon final was 12, meaning Barty re-wrote the record books with her stunning start.
Ashleigh Barty of Australia celebrates with the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy after winning her Ladies' Singles Final match against Karolina Pliskova. Photo / Getty Images.
A round of applause echoed around Centre Court when Pliskova finally won her first point – the 15th of the match – after Barty uncharacteristically clunked a backhand slice into the net.
Pliskova looked incredibly tight and wasn't putting any fizz on her ground strokes. A double fault gave Barty a double break and it was 4-0 after just 11 minutes.
There was a glimmer of hope when Pliskova broke to get on the board at 1-4 but unforced errors plagued the world No. 13 the following game. Two balls found the net and she went long past the baseline to gift Barty a third break of the set.
Pliskova played her best game of the set to break Barty again, sealing things with a cracking forehand winner for 2-5. That momentum continued with a big-serving effort complimented by some powerful ground strokes, but Barty held firm and showed plenty of composure to serve out the set for a crucial 6-3 advantage.
Pliskova finally started to find her groove in the second set. After losing her ball toss completely to be broken for 1-2, the 29-year-old rediscovered her trademark power. A scorching return winner followed by a Barty unforced error saw the talented ball striker claw her way back into the set with a break of her own.
Pliskova went on a run of 10 straight points as she took the lead for the first time, holding serve easily to go 4-3 up before Barty steadied with an important hold of her own.
Pliskova went from 40-0 up on serve to being broken and Barty had the championship on her racquet at 6-5, but nerves got to her and the Czech forced the set to a tiebreak, which she dominated to ensure the crowd would be treated to a deciding set.
Pliskova made a crucial error in the second game of the third set, butchering a simple volley after approaching it far too casually – as she did late in the second set – to gift Barty a break and 2-0 lead.
The Aussie consolidated for 3-0 before Pliskova made a statement with some emphatic serves to win her first game of the set. Barty's first serve was faltering badly but unforced errors from Pliskova helped her out as the set progressed to 4-1 in the world No. 1's favour.
Soon it was 5-2 and just like the second set, Barty found herself one game away from the trophy. But Pliskova wasn't going away. She came up with the goods in a couple of see-sawing points and although her dodgy ball toss reared its ugly head a couple of times, an ace made it 5-3 and she put the pressure on Barty to serve for the match.
The first point of the next game, all 166cm of Barty ran back to make an awesome backhand stab volley. But at 30-30 she missed a drive volley into the tape, only for Pliskova to send a cross-court backhand wide.
Barty pulled out an ace when she needed it most at deuce and made no mistake on the next point to win the championship.
