(Reuters) – A look at the road to the Wimbledon final for Australia’s Ash Barty and Czech Karolina Pliskova ahead of Saturday’s title showdown on Centre Court (prefix number denotes seeding).
1-ASH BARTY
Age: 25
Nation: Australia
WTA ranking: 1
Grand Slam titles: 1 (French Open 2019)
Road to final
First round: Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 6-1 6-7(1) 6-1
Second round: Anna Blinkova (Russia) 6-4 6-3
Third round: Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) 6-3 7-5
Fourth round: 14-Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) 7-5 6-3
Quarter-finals: Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) 6-1 6-3
Semi-finals: 25-Angelique Kerber (Germany) 6-3 7-6(3)
8-KAROLINA PLISKOVA
Age: 29
Nation: Czech Republic
WTA ranking: 13
Grand Slam titles: 0
Road to final
First round: Tamara Zidansek (Slovenia) 7-5 6-4
Second round: Donna Vekic (Croatia) 6-2 6-2
Third round: Tereza Martincova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-3
Fourth round: Liudmila Samsonova (Russia) 6-2 6-3
Quarter-finals: Viktorija Golubic (Switzerland) 6-2 6-2
Semi-finals: 2-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) 5-7 6-4 6-4
TOURNAMENT STATISTICS BARTY PLISKOVA
Aces 46 54
Fastest serve speed 115 mph 116 mph
Double faults 25 30
First-serve points won 77% 81%
Winners 180 156
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
Barty leads 5-2
Last five meetings (year/result/tournament/surface)
2021 Barty def. Pliskova 2-6 6-1 7-5 Stuttgart, clay
2019 Barty def. Pliskova 4-6 6-2 6-3 WTA Finals, hard
2019 Barty def. Pliskova 7-6(1) 6-3 Miami, hard
2018 Pliskova def. Barty 6-4 6-4 U.S. Open, hard
2017 Barty def. Pliskova 4-6 7-6(3) 7-6(2) Wuhan, hard
(Compiled by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru)
