SPORTS

Meet Wimbledon champion Ash Barty

July 10, 2021 21:23 IST

IMAGE: Ash Barty with the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy after winning the women's singles title on Day 12 of Wimbledon 2021 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, on Saturday. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Factbox on Australia's Ash Barty, who beat Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 in the final to win her first Wimbledon title on Saturday:

 

Age: 25

Nation: Australia

WTA ranking: 1

Seeding: 1

Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2019; Wimbledon 2021)

ROAD TO FINAL

First round: beat Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-1

Second round: beat Anna Blinkova (Russia) 6-4, 6-3

Third round: beat Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 7-5

Fourth round: beat 14-Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) 7-5, 6-3

Quarter-finals: beat Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) 6-1, 6-3

Semi-finals: beat 25-Angelique Kerber (Germany) 6-3, 7-6(3)



EARLY LIFE

* Began playing tennis aged five when parents Robert and Josie introduced her to the sport.

CAREER TO DATE

* After starting her career on the ITF circuit in Australia in 2010, she played her first WTA qualifying event at the U.S. Open the following year.

* Claimed four singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF circuit in 2012.

* Won one WTA doubles title and reached three Grand Slam doubles finals with fellow Australian Casey Dellacqua in 2013 (Australian Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open).

* After winning another WTA doubles title in 2014, she took a break from tennis following the U.S. Open and had a successful stint with the Brisbane Heat cricket team in the Women's Big Bash League, before returning in 2016.

* Broke into the top 20 in 2017, clinching her first WTA singles title at Kuala Lumpur as a qualifier. She reached two more singles finals, at Birmingham and Wuhan, before becoming Australia's number one player.

* Won her second and third WTA singles titles at Nottingham and Zhuhai to finish 2018 ranked 15 in the world. Claimed four more doubles titles.

* Sealed her first title of 2019 at Miami in March before clinching her maiden Grand Slam at the French Open, where she beat Czech Marketa Vondrousova in the final.

* First Australian player in 46 years to win the women's major title at Roland Garros.

* The same year, she rose to the world number one ranking in June and also spearheaded Australia to their first Fed Cup final since 1993, where they lost to France.

* Started her second season as the top-ranked player in 2020. Won her eighth WTA singles title at Adelaide and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Sofia Kenin.

* Did not participate in any other Grand Slams in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before returning at the Australian Open in 2021 where she lost to Karolina Muchova in the quarter-finals. Retired from her second-round match at French Open due to a hip injury.

* Defeated Karolina Pliskova in her first Wimbledon final to win her second Grand Slam title.

Source: REUTERS
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