London (AFP) – The first Wimbledon tournament since 2019 kicks off until the last weekend. The focus this Saturday (3pm/sky) is on the women’s final between Ashleigh Barty of Australia and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Prizes are also awarded in the men’s and women’s doubles.

the facts

For Barty and Pliskova, this is the first Wimbledon final. Barty is number one in the world, Pliskova was already number one in the world. The 29-year-old has never won a Grand Slam, but in the 2016 US Open final she lost to Angelique Kerber, this time losing to Barty in the semifinals. She was trained by German coach Sacha Bajin, who also led Japanese Naomi Osaka to great successes.

Barty has already won one of the four most important titles, in 2019 she won the French Open. The 25-year-old has won five of the previous seven encounters against Pliskova and, following Yvonne Gulagong Cowley, will be the first Australian to win in 41 years. With her attire, she is reminiscent of the 1980 winner. In 2002, Lleyton Hewitt was the last Australian champion to date.

If Pliskova wins, it will be the Czech’s second Grand Slam title in four weeks. At the French Open, Barbora Krezhikova, who lost to Barty in the round of 16 in London, was surprised to celebrate. The Australian had to surrender in the second round of the French Open due to thigh problems.

The paths leading to the final

Ashleigh Barty has so far defeated Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain/6:1, 6:7 (1:7), 6:1), Anna Plinkoa (Russia/6:4, 6:3), Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) . /6:3, 7:5), Barbora Krejkova (Czech Republic/7:5, 6:3), Agla Tomljanovic (Australia/6:1, 6:3) and Angelique Kerber (Kel/6:3, 7:6) (7:3)) And it took 9:20 hours.

Karolina Pliskova defeated Tamara Zidansek (Slovenia/7:5, 6:4), Donna Vekic (Croatia/6:2, 6:2), Teresa Martinkova (Czech Republic/6:3, 6:3), Lyudmila Samsonova ( Russia). / 6:2, 6:3), Viktorija Golubic (6:2, 6:2), Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus / 5:7, 6:4, 6:4) and was on the field for 8:32 hours so far.

What do the players say?

Ashleigh Barty: “The opportunity to play a final here at Wimbledon is fantastic. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure this would happen to me. Wimbledon is a great place to study. A big part of your bigger size comes from your darkest times. I think that’s why this tournament is so important to me” .

Karolina Pliskova: “The second final, the second time I play against the top seed. I can’t think of anything better, you want to play against the best player in the final. Of course I lost to her a few times, but he was always close when I got to the tournament, the dream was to finish The second week because I haven’t made it in a while.”

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