Karolina Pliskova’s hopes for winning her first Grand Slam title were virtually doomed from the start of Saturday’s Wimbledon women’s singles final.
She literally didn’t show up for the first 14 points of the match. It wasn’t that Ashleigh Barty was doing anything real special, except play perfect tennis.
Basically, Pliskova didn’t play competitive tennis in the first four games of the match. She didn’t look like a former world’s No. 1 player. Even Chrissie Evert said, “This is a little disappointing.”
With Pliskova appearing to play half-heartedly, Barty unofficially hit four winners, two aces and four unreturnable serves before committing her first error on the 15th point when she netted a backhand. The good-natured Australian isn’t perfect after all.
MORE PLISKOVA GIFTS
Pliskova wasn’t finished with charity. Just when it appeared she might actually win the match after taking the second set, she gave away four of the five points in her first service game in the third set en route to a love-3 start.
The sandwich set between the first and third sets really didn’t matter in the end, although both players played reasonably well and hit some great shots. However, Pliskova never seriously threatened to win the match.
Barty is the Wimbledon women’s singles champion for the first time. The two-time Grand Slam champion is now widely acknowledged as the best player in the women’s game.
WINNING TITLE A BIG DEAL
Getting this one out of the way with a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 victory, of course, was a big deal for the always likable 5-5 Australian. She showed a few nervous moments of her own, enough that she allowed Pliskova to take the second set and almost enough to let Pliskova recover from the service break in the second game of the third set.
By the way, the service break that decided the third set was a true gift from Pliskova. It went like this for the Czech: backhand error, double fault and forehand error for 0-40, then a forehand winner before netting a novice-looking forehand volley from nearly on top of the net.
EVERYTHING CAN’T BE PERFECT
Things like Pliskova’s gifts to Barty occur often in sports.
Remember the great Roger Federer’s relative give-me swinging volley error and slip two points later on a simple overhead put-away at the net in the tiebreaker that likely cost him the second set in his straight-set loss to Hubert Hurkacz in the Wimbledon men’s quarterfinals?
Who knows what might have happened if Federer hadn’t had those two unlucky mishaps that put the Swiss great in a 4-2 hole in the tiebreaker. He might even have made it to the final against Novak Djokovic.
FAN-PLEASING MOMENTS
Barty and Pliskova both had their own wildly fan-pleasing moments.
As it turned out, the 6-1 Pliskova is actually a lot quicker and mobile than it sometimes appears.
On one spectacular display of talent in the second-set tiebreaker, Barty came up with what looked like a winning drop shot and charged the net after it, but Pliskova got a racket on the ball and lobbed it over Barty’s head only to see Barty chase the ball down and put up another shot.
Pliskova was waiting in the middle of the net to smash Barty’s shot away. That one was much more exciting than my description makes it sound.
THE MATCHUP WAS NEARLY EVEN
Barty’s most exciting play may have been the one on the first point of the match’s last game when Pliskova ran down a ball on the baseline with Barty heading to the net. Quickly retreating from the net with her back to the net, the athletic Barty leaped high into the air and stretched out fully to put away a backhand volley.
Other than those games and instances that went completely bad for Pliskova, the 29-year-old Czech pretty much matched Barty off the ground and serving. Pliskova’s big strokes kept Barty off the net much of the match.
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See James Beck’s Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier columns at postandcourier.com (search on James Beck column). James Beck can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
