BARTY-PARTY! Ashleigh Barty Denies Former Champion Angelique Kerber Finals Spot at Wimbledon Championships 2021

After a painful retirement midway through her French Open 2021 R2 match, Ashleigh Barty returned with a renewed hope in London. Consequently, she reached her maiden semifinal at the Wimbledon Championships 2021. She faced the ultimate test, 2018 champion Angelique Kerber, before her and a spot in the final. Eventually, at the end of their roller-coaster battle, the Australian survived, winning the match 6-3, 7-6(3).

Before coming into this match, the WTA World No.1 Barty had only lost one set, that is, in a tie-breaker to Carla Suarez Navarro in round one. On the other side, the twenty-fifth seed improved through every match to build her campaign for the second Wimbledon title. Naturally, their battle, too, showed every bit of their champion quality on Centre Court.

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Ashleigh Barty vs. Angelique Kerber, Wimbledon SF: First set

Tennis is a sport that demands physical and mental attributes to be at the top level consistently. For this, Barty has been incomparably disciplined and determined throughout the 2021 season. Again, her unflinching focus rewarded her with an early break against Kerber.

Unsettled in this match, the German gave away another service game to find herself down 4-0. However, it somehow made her comfortable on the court as she started hitting clean winners. Conversely, it was now Barty who had lost her rhythm.

Even so, the resurgence came up too late for Kerber to close the first set. After a good fight, she lost the first set 6-3. But indeed, the battle had only begun between the two.

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Kerber fights back against Barty in the second set

Picking up from the momentum of the first set, Kerber put some pressure on the 25-year-old Australian straightaway. Moreover, she did not find it difficult to gear up her game with the crowd behind the former champion. While it put the German in the front in the second set, the quality of their rallies increased exponentially.

Engaging in longer rallies and hitting nothing but the lines, Barty and Kerber exhibited why they were in the semifinals. At 4-2, the German stood her ground as she completed a successful hold in arguably the best game of their match. It was a forehand winner down the line close to the baseline that sealed the deal for her.

Following that, the duo again deuced the game, this time, Barty held her serve, asking Kerber to finish the set. All of a sudden, the incredible resilience of the Australian returned on the Centre Court as she broke her opponent’s serve on love. As a result, the match returned to serve again at 4-5 in favor of the 33-year-old.

At 6-6, the two forced a tie-breaker to decide the winner of the set. Ultimately, Barty came all over the former champion to take the entry in the final with a straight-sets win. She won the tiebreaker 7-3, winning the match 6-3, 7-6(3).

She will now meet the winner between Aryna Sabalenka and Karolina Pliskova in Wimbledon Championships 2021 Ladies Singles final on Saturday. Will this be her second Grand Slam title?

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