Ashleigh Barty becomes first Australian woman to win Wimbledon Singles title since 1980

World no. 1 Ashleigh Barty clinched her maiden Wimbledon title after beating Karolina Pliskova in three sets (6-3 67(4) 63) on July 10, 2021. Barty has become the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon women's singles title since 1980.

Ashleigh Barty's victory comes 50 years after her idol, Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley, won her first Wimbledon title.

Speaking after her win, "It took me a long time to verbalize the fact that I wanted to dare to dream it." She continued by saying,  "Being able to live out my dream right now, with everyone here, has made it better than I ever could have imagined."

#Wimbledon: Australian top seed #AshleighBarty wins the Women's singles title defeating eighth seed #KarolinaPliskova of Czech Republic. pic.twitter.com/Rmk5afVeJM

— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) July 10, 2021

The 25-year-old was the favourite to lift the cup right from the start of the final game. It was clear from the opening minutes of the match itself that her win would be inevitable. In just 11 minutes, she already held a 4-0 lead over 29-year-old Pliskova.

The Wimbledon Champion Ashleigh Barty received her Wimbledon women's singles trophy from the Duchess of Cambridge, who is the Royal Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC).

Key Facts 

• Ashleigh Barty has become the 3rd Australian woman in the Open Era to win the Wimbledon singles title, after Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong.

• Overall, this is her 2nd major title and 4th title of the season.

• She is currently ranked no. 1 in the world in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

• She is the second Australian singles No. 1 after Evonne Goolagong.

• She has also featured among the top 10 players in doubles with her career-high ranking being world no.5. 

• Overall, she has won twelve singles titles and eleven doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including two Grand Slam singles titles- 2019 French Open and 2021 Wimbledon Championships and one Grand Slam doubles title at the 2018 US Open with CoCo Vandeweghe. 

• Barty began playing tennis at the age of four and had a promising junior career, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 2 after winning the girls' singles title at Wimbledon in 2011. 

• She also finished as the runner-up in three Grand Slam doubles events with veteran Casey Dellacqua, including at the Australian Open when she was only 16 years old. 

Ashleigh Barty's brief stint with cricket

• In 2014, Barty decided to take an indefinite break from her tennis career. 

• She ended up playing cricket during this time, joining the Brisbane Heat for the inaugural Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) in 2015 despite having no formal training in the sport.

• However, she returned to tennis in 2016 and had a breakout year in singles in 2017, as she won her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open and rose to world no. 17 rank despite having never been ranked inside the top 100 before her time off. 

• Barty then won her first Premier Mandatory and Grand Slam tournament titles in doubles in 2018 along with Casey Dellacqua before accomplishing the same feat in singles in 2019.