Wimbledon 2021: “I never cry” – Karolina Pliskova is upset by the defeat in the final from Ashleigh Barty
World No. 13 Karolina Pliskova was in tears after losing to Ash Barty in the women’s Singles final on the Center Court of Wimbledon 2021 on Saturday.
The Czech player, who was outplayed in the first set, made a sensational comeback in the second before going down again in the third to suffer a 6-3, 6-7(4-7), 6-3 defeat at the hands of Australian world number one.
Pliskova was broken 6 out of 8 times in the match (including 3 in the 1st set). Barty failed to serve out the match at 6-5 in the 2nd set as the 8th seed forced a tie-break before winning it 7-4. Barty, however, gained momentum early in the decider and won 3 straight games to deprive 6-feet-1-inch tall Pliskova of her maiden Slam title. Pliskova has now twice lost in a Major final. She had ended up as a Grand Slam bridesmaid at the 2016 US Open, too.
“Thank you to everyone … I enjoyed every minute to play on this court … sorry …” she pauses for a long time as she is overcome with emotion. There is a huge roar of appreciation from the crowd. “I never cry, never … I want to start with Ash, she played an incredible tournament and an incredible match today, it wasn’t easy to close the second set, I was fighting very hard to make it difficult for her, but I think she played very well, so congrats to her and her team,” Pliskova said in her post-match interview.
“I want to thank all my team … and all the success goes to them, without them I would not be here, and of course to my family as well. No matter what trophy we have, I think we had an incredible three weeks here. Thank you guys,” she added.
Karolina Pliskova had showed tremendous grit in the semi-final as well. She had rallied past Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus after losing the 1st set.
The 29-year-old was ousted in the third round of Ausralian Open 2021 and in the 2nd round of French Open. She will now rekindle all her energy to revive go for the glory once again at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year.
“I love testing myself against you, and I’m sure we’ll play in many, many more matches,” first time Wimbledon champion Ash Barty said about Pliskova in her victory speech.
