London: Ashleigh Barty became the first World No.1 to reach Wimbledon final in five years after she defeated 2018 champion, Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 7-6(6-3) in the semifinals on Thursday.
In the final, she will take on Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova, who overcame Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in three sets, coming back from first set defeat to win 5-7, 6-4,6-4 in nearly two hours.
Barty, who will lead the Australian tennis contingent at the Tokyo Olympics this month, took an hour and 26 minutes to prevail over the German opponent. This is Barty’s best finish at Wimbledon. She has won only one Grand Slam singles title before – the 2019 French Open.
The other semifinal was a shootout between two powerful hitters and Karolina overcame Aryna with some precise play in the second and third set. The Czech star missed a lot of chances in the first set loss. She tightened her game in the second and third to capitalise on the opportunities.
