Put your dreams out into the universe, work hard and you never know what might happen. That’s what Ashleigh Barty had said when asked to define the legacy of her friend and mentor Evonne Goolagong Cawley, the great Australian who won the first of her two Wimbledon titles in 1971. Barty has rarely been given to public statements of ambition, but she had made no secret of her desire to commemorate the golden jubilee of Goolagong Cawley’s first Wimbledon victory with a title of her own. Her dream came true against Karolina Pliskova on Saturday, as a typically courageous performance earned the world No 1 her first title at the All England Club.
On an afternoon rich in drama and emotion, Pliskova overcame crippling anxiety to turn what threatened to be a Barty procession into one of the most compelling women’s finals of recent years. The poker-faced Czech rarely gives much away, but as she attempted to thank the Centre Court crowd for a thoroughly deserved ovation, even she faltered. “I never cry, never,” she said. “And now …”.
There were similarly lachrymose scenes a few moments later, when Sue Barker raised the subject of how much Goolagong Cawley means to Barty. “She does,” said the Australian, who wore a scallop-hemmed skirt throughout the fortnight in tribute to the dress worn by her mentor half a century ago. “I just hope I made her proud.” She surely did.
“Evonne is a very special person in my life,” said Barty, who is fiercely proud of her indigenous heritage. “I think she has been iconic in paving a way for young indigenous youth to believe in their dreams, to chase their dreams, and she’s done exactly that for me as well. Being able to share that with her, and share some pretty special victories now with her, and kind of create my own path, is really incredible, really exciting. She’s been an icon for years and years, and not just on the tennis court. Her legacy off the court is incredible.
“It took me a long time to verbalise the fact that I wanted to dare to dream it, and say I wanted to win this incredible tournament,” said Barty, who with her 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 victory became only the third Australian woman, after Margaret Court and Goolagong Cawley, to win Wimbledon. “Being able to live out my dream right now with everyone here has made it better than I ever could have imagined. I didn’t sleep a lot last night, I was thinking of all the what ifs, but I think when I was coming out on this court I felt at home in a way.”
The same could not be said for Pliskova. For a set and a half, the occasion completely overwhelmed the Czech, who seemed unable to draw on the experience of her run to the US Open final five years ago. Paralysed by nerves and accordingly leaden-footed, Pliskova was a shadow of the composed, purposeful player who had weathered the unbridled power of Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. Her misery was compounded by a flawless start from Barty, who, like Pliskova, was contesting her maiden Wimbledon final – it was the first between two debutants since 1977 – but was by far the better able to marshal her emotions.
With her big serve and flat, accurate groundstrokes, Pliskova, a two-time Eastbourne champion, has always appeared to have a game perfectly suited to grass. Yet only twice before this year had she even made it to the last 16 at the All England Club, an anomaly the 6ft 1in Czech ascribed to the difficulty of getting her tall frame down to ankle-high balls, a staple skill of grass-court tennis. No player is better equipped than Barty to capitalise on such a shortcoming, and the opening games went by in a blur as the Queenslander won the first 14 points of the match. It was a Hobson’s choice for Pliskova, who was run ragged when she went to Barty’s powerful topspin forehand and found herself digging out daisy-cutters when she went to the backhand.
“Not an ideal start,” reflected Pliskova afterwards. “But I have to say, a lot of credit to her – because one thing is that I maybe didn’t really start well, but I think she really made it super difficult for me.”
Barty was not immune to anxiety herself, and in the fifth game she made four unforced errors to drop serve to love. That drew a rueful smile from Pliskova, who admitted afterwards that she was relieved to make an impression on the scoreboard, with the memory of her 6-0, 6-0 defeat against Iga Swiatek in the Italian Open final not yet two months old. “I was thinking a bit about the about the final in Rome, when I did not make a game, so I thought ‘This cannot be possible, this cannot happen again.'”
It was an all too fleeting reprieve, however. Pliskova, who had only been broken four times in six matches coming into the final, lost her serve for a third time in succession, leaving Barty to serve for the set at 5-1. Now, finally, the Czech began to relax, producing some fine returns to fashion a first break before finally holding serve in convincing style. She could not prevent Barty from serving out to love, however, and when she erred on serve once again early in the second set, the contest looked destined for a swift conclusion.
Yet Pliskova had risen to the occasion magnificently after dropping the first set of her semi-final against Sabalenka, and once again she roused herself. In the sixth game, she produced a blistering forehand winner to lay the foundations for a break. With her serve now firing, she kept pace with Barty until 5-5, at which point some athletic play from the Australian secured what seemed sure to prove a match-winning breakthrough. Again there was a twist, however, a double fault and two missed forehands punctuating a wretched game from the top seed.
The increasingly animated Pliskova won the ensuing tiebreak and threatened to seize an early advantage in the third. Barty clung on, however, and in the next game she was rewarded for her tenacity as Pliskova produced mistakes off either wing before netting a forehand volley with the court at her mercy. “Being able to reset at the start of the third was really important,” said Barty, “just for me to continue to turn up for each and every point. That was all I was really focusing on, just trying to do the best that I could on every given point regardless of what the scoreline was.”
A break to the good, Barty held twice to reach 5-2. With the title on the line, Pliskova was a model of calmness as she fought to stay in contention, but Barty was not to be denied. When Pliskova netted a final backhand on match point, Barty dropped to her knees and covered her face, her emotion plain to see. Ten years after winning junior Wimbledon, she had the title she craved.