Ash Barty first walked through the gates of the All England Club aged 15 — and promptly won the junior girls’ title. Now she faces Karolina Pliskova in the final with another anniversary in mind — the 50 years since Evonne Goolagong won her first championship at Wimbledon. It remained largely unruffled on Thursday as she picked apart the canny German veteran Angelique Kerber to win their semi-final 6-3, 7-6. Sharing a partial aboriginal heritage with Goolagong, Barty will try to end Australia’s female singles drought in these parts, going back to Goolagong’s last win in 1980. It was a very different encounter to the power-hitting of the second semi-final and Friday will see a big contrast of physiques as well as styles.

Source: Daily Mail July 08, 2021 14:14 UTC