- Australian world No 1 wins impressively 6-3, 7-6 (3)
- Barty hits 38 winners and loses serve only once
The first thing to know about Ashleigh Barty is that she loves grass. She won the girls’ title here as a 15-year-old a decade ago, she has a game that is perfectly suited to the fast, low bounce and has frequently said she spends much of the season counting down the days until the grass arrives again. While Barty tends to be wary of revealing too many of her ambitions aloud, before the tournament she made it clear that winning the title was an ultimate ambition.
Such an affinity with any tournament can come with heightened pressure but throughout the past 10 days she has risen to the moment when needed. Against the in-form player, Barty produced one of the highest-quality big-match performances of her career, outplaying the former champion Angelique Kerber 6-3, 7-6 (3) to reach her first Wimbledon final.