World number one Ashleigh Barty will play Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova in Saturday’s Wimbledon final.
Australian Barty beat former champion Angelique Kerber 6-3 7-6 (7-3) before Pliskova came from a set down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 5-7 6-4 6-4.
It will be a first final at the All England Club for both Barty, 25, and 29-year-old Pliskova.
“I get the chance on Saturday to live out a total dream,” said Barty, who has not lost a set since the opening round.
The top seed added: “This is incredible. This is as close to a good tennis match I will play. Angie brought the best out of me and I knew I had to be at my best.”
Barty has the upper hand on Pliskova in their previous meetings, winning five of seven.
In the most recent of those, in the Stuttgart quarter-finals earlier this year, Barty came from a set down to win in three.
It is Pliskova’s second Grand Slam final, having finished as runner-up at the US Open in 2016, while 2019 French Open champion Barty is chasing her second major title.
“I think it’s an incredible achievement,” said Pliskova. “It was an amazing match from both of us.”
Barty has long spoken of her dream of winning Wimbledon and is now one more victory away from achieving it – on the 50th anniversary of her idol Evonne Goolagong’s first SW19 triumph.
The run has come after Barty allayed fears she might not even be fit to play at the All England Club. She was managing a hip injury at the French Open which led to her retiring from her second-round match at Roland Garros.
Coming into the tournament, she said she was fit and ready – and so it has proved.
She is the first Australian to reach the women’s final since Goolagong lifted her second title at the All England Club in 1980.
Source:BBC
