By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, July 8, 2021
World No. 1 Ash Barty dropped just five points on first serve fighting off 2018 champion Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-6(3) to reach her first Wimbledon final.
Photo credit: Getty
The dream dangled in the air like the floating yellow ball.
Ashleigh Barty realized it with explosive elevation.
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A brilliant Barty burst through 11 straight points fighting off 2018 champion Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-6(3) soaring to her first Wimbledon final a decade after she captured the Wimbledon girls' junior champion as a wide-eyed teenager.
The world No. 1 showed stirring athleticism, all-court acumen, a stinging serve—she struck eight aces and won 35 of 40 first-serve points—and a killer instinct at closing time snapping Kerber's 10-match grass-court winning streak in a high-quality match between Grand Slam champions that lived up to its blockbuster hype.
"This is incredible; I think this is as close to as good of a tennis match as I'll ever play," Barty said in her on-court interview. "Angie definitely brought out the best in me today. It was a hell of a match right from the first ball. And I knew it was gonna have to be that good just to compete with her.
"I'm incredibly proud of myself and my team and now we get a chance on Saturday to try to live out a childhood dream."
The 25-year-old Aussie's specially-designed Fila Trailblazer skirt pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of her tennis hero Aussie legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s enthralling 1971 Wimbledon title run.
Armed with a 34-6 record in 2021, Barty will play for history against eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova in Saturday's final.
Pliskova pumped 14 aces and withstood 18 aces from Aryna Sabalenka in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win. It was Pliskova's first win in three meetings vs. Sabalenka and sends the 2016 US Open finalist into her first Wimbledon final. Barty is bidding to join Ann Jones, Martina Hingis and Amelie Mauresmo as the fourth junior champion to raise the Rosewater Dish.
The depth of Barty's all-court game empowers her to deliver answers from any position on the court. Barty hit 22 more winners than Kerber (38 to 16), dipping the low slice backhand to set up some flashy forehand drives that ignited her 11-point second-set charge.
When the three-time Grand Slam champion opened a 5-2 second-set lead and looked poised to force a decider, Barty lifted her level. A soaring smash she threw down right off the baseline sent some white paste puffing in the air and Kerber reeling.
"She is really intelligent player and she knows how to play also with her slice, and then she's going forward with her forehand," Kerber said of Barty. "She really served well today. You see that she has a lot of confidence, that she played a lot of big matches, that she's the No. 1 player in the world right now.
"But for me it was important to give everything I had on court. Like I said, she had always, like in the important moment, the better answer."
Seeing opportunity in pressure stages, Barty stepped up and seized the moment winning 10 of 14 trips to net and rolling through a near flawless tie breaker to close her most dynamic major victory in one hour, 26 minutes.
Fans saluted Kerber's revitalizing run to the final four with a standing ovation.
"If you go out and you have the standing ovation at the Centre Court in Wimbledon, I mean, that's the best feeling you can have even you lost," Kerber said. "I tried everything. I put everything on court today. Ash is a great opponent. She deserved to win today. For me it was just, you know, the fight that I put the last few weeks in my tennis, that's actually what counts for me right now."
The first top seed to contest a Wimbledon semifinal since 2016 rallied from 15-40 down in the opening game. Barty bended a forehand into the corner to save a second break point applying her attacking skills to hold.
Four-time Wimbledon semifinalist Kerber hits so flat the ball's fuzz flirts with the tape. Opening service jitters saw her send a couple of shots into net. Reading the direction of the left-hander's smash, Barty rifled a running forehand pass down the line breaking with a bang in the second game.
Snapping through a few superb forehand strikes down the line, Barty belted a high volley holding for 3-0.
The 2018 Wimbledon champion paced behind the baseline facing another break point in the fourth game. Kerber desperately needed to dig in and she did curling a crosscourt forehand to displace her opponent, setting up a smash to get on the scoreboard after 16 minutes.
Pressured on serve at love-30 in the fifth game, Barty pumped a pair of aces eradicating the threat for 4-1. Kerber tested the top seed to deuce in each of her first three service games before Barty put the hammer down stamping the day's first love hold for 5-2. Kerber answered with her own love hold.
A key component to this match pitted the Aussie's dangerous serve vs. Kerber's crackling return. Though the German tested Barty on serve, she brought decisive answers under duress.
Serving for the set, Barty staved off a break point with a bold second serve that helped set up a high volley. Barty slashed a 109 mph ace out wide calmly closing the 34-minute opener.
The 2019 Roland Garros champion's clutch serving saw her win 18 of 21 first-serve points and save all three break points she faced—two in the crucial opening game and one in the finale.
Resetting, Kerber fired herself up with some heavy forehands and heavy fist pumps earning triple break point to start the second set. Barty fought off the first two, but steered a forehand down the line wide as Kerber celebrated her first break with a clenched fist and firm "come on!" for 2-0. Repelling everything Barty through at her, Kerber cranked a crosscourt backhand extending to 3-0.
Facing turbulence for the first time in the set, Kerber swept away a pair of break points showing her versatility deploying the drop shot to deny the second. Sending a sweeping forehand down the line, Kerber sealed a stubborn hold for 4-1 with a shout.
Targeting Barty's backhand chip return with her slider serve, the left-hander was taking the first strike with her forehand as she battled through a tough deuce hold for 5-2.
Facing the prospect of a final set, the woman who can play throwback tennis tuned into the moment.
"I think each and every point it's important to try to execute as best you can, keep it simple. Really the scoreline for me today was irrelevant," Barty said. "Whether it was 3-Love up in the first or 5-3, 5-4 down in the second, it didn't come into my mind at all, honestly.
"It was more about the process of trying to do the best that I could each and every point, play each and every point on its merits, and understand you're going to make some mistakes, she's going to come up with some really good stuff. You accept that, move on, continue to try to bring it back to the patterns we wanted to do today. I think I was able to do that when it counted the most."
Serving to force a decider, Kerber ran into a wall of pressure and wonder of Barty all-court athleticism. Bursting off the turf, Barty snapped a smash off the baseline to start the game with soaring brilliance and closed with a fierce running forehand pass breaking at love.
The world No. 1 elevated explosively, touching the sideline with a forehand and torching the service line with her seventh ace. Leaning low, Barty bumped a backhand winner down the liner, her 10th straight point level after 10 games.
Kerber halted an 11-point free fall then whipped the wide serve to set up a punishing forehand. Kerber was so low it looked like she was playing limbo on lawn when she lasered a forehand rocket down the line hold for 6-5.
A jittery Kerber opened the tie breaker with successive errors then slapped a double fault to fall into a love-4 hole. Dancing around her backhand, Barty drove her second forehand winner down the line for 5-0 before slashing her eighth ace for a fistful of match points.
When a feisty Kerber finally snapped the shutout the crowd roared and she waved an index finger in celebration. The three-time Grand Slam champion saved three match points.
Barty closed the curtain on a dramatic semifinal thrusting her arms in the air when Kerber netted a backhand to end a fierce battle and unleash a joyous buzz and bright smile.
"It was incredible. It was just almost a moment of relief, a moment of pure excitement," Barty said. "It was something that I'd never, never knew if I would feel. I think being able to have an opportunity to play in a final here at Wimbledon is incredible.
"That match was a great level, the best level I've played, in quite some time. I think Angie is an incredible competitor. She brought out the best in me today. I think being able to challenge myself against a champion like her, it was just nice to play a really good level throughout the whole match, kind of fought and scrapped when I had to, controlled the ball when I had to. But being able to have that feeling on the last point was amazing."