After not playing for more than a year on the WTA tour, Ashleigh Barty made a successful return this year where she won a couple of titles on hard and clay courts.

Just when expectations began to soar regarding her French Open chances, the Aussie player was forced to retire mid-way from her second round match due to a left hip injury.

Watch this story: Heart-Breaking Losses at Wimbledon Championships 2021: Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Nick Kyrgios, Venus Williams, Ons Jabeur, Andy Murray

Ashleigh Barty stormed into Wimbledon finals for the first time

Since then, Barty didn’t take part in any of the grass court events ahead of Wimbledon. Ahead of the tournament, there weren’t many pundits who would have predicted the Australian to be in the finals of SW19.

It wasn’t an easy ride of the Aussie at Wimbledon this fortnight as she had to face challenging players like Carla Suarez Navarro, Barbora Krejcikova, and Angelique Kerber before reaching the finals.

During the semi-final matchup against the in-form Kerber, the Australian showed signs of nervousness in the first few games. As the match progressed, she got in control and began to extract errors from her opponent.

Irrespective of the surface, Barty uses her slice backhand against all of her opponents, and it worked well so far at Wimbledon this year. With this tactic, the Aussie was able to dictate the pace of the rally and switch from defense to attack pretty quickly.

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“Excited I could repay them the favor” – Barty is all praise for her team

Ahead of the championship match against Pliskova, Barty talked about the rehab process and lauded her team for their valiant efforts in making her match-ready.

“I’m excited I could repay them the favor in a way, of giving us an opportunity as a collective, as a whole, to do something pretty special this week”,?the world number one said.

Even for Karolina Pliskova, Saturday’s championship encounter will mark her entry into the Wimbledon finals for the first time. Having reached her first slam final in the 2016 US Open, it has been a long wait for the Czech player as she stumbled with form and consistency over the years.

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