Wimbledon 2021: Ashleigh Barty to face Karolina Pliskova in final
World number one Ashleigh Barty will play Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova in the Wimbledon final on Saturday.
World number one Ashleigh Barty will play Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova in the Wimbledon final on Saturday.
Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic continued their dream season on Thursday at Wimbledon where they moved past Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) to reach the final.
The Croatians have won seven tour-level titles together this year, including three ATP Masters 1000s. Having reached 10 tour-level finals this season, they became the first team to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals after their quarter-final victory on Tuesday.
Mektic and Pavic, who began their partnership this year, hit 16 aces and 26 winners to overcome the American-British tandem in three hours and 24 minutes.
They will face Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in Saturday’s final, after the fourth seeds defeated Simone Bolelli and Maximo Gonzalez 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3).
It is the second time the Spanish-Argentine duo has advanced to a Grand Slam final, having reached the championship match at the 2019 US Open (l. to Cabal/Farah). In a dominant display, they won 82 per cent (50/61) of their first-service points and did not face a break point in the match.
Granollers and Zeballos will be aiming to win their second tour-level title of the season on Saturday, having defeated their upcoming opponents to capture the Mutua Madrid Open trophy in May.
Rafael Nadal has accepted a wild card into the Citi Open, the tournament announced Thursday. The Spaniard will compete in the ATP 500, to take place in Washington, D.C. from 2-8 August, for the first time.
“I am very excited to come to Washington for the first time,” Nadal said according to a tournament press release. “I have never been there and it’s one more place I wanted to come and play. I am looking forward to playing again and Washington shall be the best start for the U.S. Summer Swing for me. Looking forward to seeing again my U.S. fans that I haven’t seen since I won the 2019 US Open in NYC! Vamos!”
Nadal joins a loaded field that includes Canadian stars Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkacz, Nick Kyrgios, Jannik Sinner, Sebastian Korda, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Aslan Karatsev and plenty more.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rafael Nadal, who is not just one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, but also a global sporting icon and inspiring role model to our Washington community this summer,” Citi Open Chairman and CEO of MDE Tennis Mark Ein said. “I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate the joyous return of the things we cherish like live sports, coming together as a community and our historic event than having Rafa and the rest of our very deep and exciting player field competing for the Citi Open title.”
This will be Nadal’s first tournament since reaching the Roland Garros semi-finals in June. The World No. 3 has a 23-4 record on the season and he will chase his third crown after the season following triumphs in Barcelona and Rome.
Players who have lifted the Citi Open trophy include Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Lleyton Hewitt, Ivan Lendl, Andy Roddick and Guillermo Vilas.
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Felix Auger-Aliassime acquitted himself well in his first Grand Slam quarter-final on Wednesday at Wimbledon. But the Canadian simply lost to the better player on the day in Italian Matteo Berrettini, who advanced to his second major semi-final.
“I really felt like there was a match, there was a battle. It’s really unfortunate that I had small opportunities in rallies in the end of the third set,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Credit to him because I think he really deserves it. He’s shown how consistent he is over the past few weeks. He just won in Queen’s. He deserves to be in the semi-finals right now.”
The 20-year-old praised Berrettini’s “amazing” serving, but he felt in the middle of the match that he was positioned well. But one key stretch proved decisive in the match at the end of the third set.
“I think the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth is where I lost the match. I played a poor game on my serve. He did some good shots,” Auger-Aliassime said. “After the [beginning of the] fourth [set], when I started like this, he served better and better. He was more relaxed. I was trying to stay, to fight, to find a way, but it was a bit too late.”
It was an interesting dynamic on No. 1 Court, since Auger-Aliassime and Berrettini are close friends. On Tuesday, they watched the Italy-Spain UEFA European Championships football match together with their girlfriends in player dining.
“It was tight. I thought Spain was dominating in the first half, and then Italy came back well, scored a good goal,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Penalties, it was a good comeback from Italy. Good game.”
That did not stop the men from competing for the win. Both were trying to reach their first Wimbledon semi-final, so they had to put their friendship aside for more than three hours.
During the match, Auger-Aliassime realised that on Centre Court, Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz had upset eight-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer. But the Canadian said the opportunity to play another first-time major semi-finalist on Friday did not distract him against Berrettini.
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“I believed that Hubert can win. He plays amazing. But just the score was a bit surprising,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But it didn’t change anything from my part. I was in the middle of a battle, a match. I was just trying to find a way to get through this one.”
The #NextGenATP star will leave the grass-court season with his head held high. Auger-Aliassime made the final in Stuttgart, beat Federer en route to the semi-finals in Halle, and made his best run at a major yet at the All England Club.
The Canadian has climbed into contention in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals and shored up his spot in second in the ATP Race To Milan for a place at the Next Gen ATP Finals. But for now, his loss against Berrettini will still sting.
“It’s been a good couple of weeks on grass, definitely. There’s some good to take from my tournament here, a lot of positives,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But today I just felt like I had a rough start again, like other matches. It was just tough.”
Watch highlights as Italy’s Matteo Berrettini beats Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon where he will face Hubert Hurkacz.
Watch some of the best moments as Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz outclasses Switzerland’s Rodger Federer in straight sets to secure a place in the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
French Open champion Alfie Hewett will open his Wimbledon wheelchair singles campaign against Joachim Gerard on Thursday.
After a nightmare of a summer, Hubert Hurkacz has been living a ‘dream’ fortnight at Wimbledon after defeating former World No. 1 Roger Federer, his childhood idol, in emphatic style to reach the semi-finals.
“Walking off the court realizing that I won against Roger, I mean, [it was] just kind of a dream come true, especially here on grass in Wimbledon,” Hurkacz grinned in his post-match press conference. “[It] felt so special with the crowd around, as well.”
With a 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0 stunner over the eight-time champion Federer, 14th seed Hurkacz booked a place into his first Grand Slam semi-final, becoming the first Polish man to reach the last four at Wimbledon since Jerzy Janowicz’s run in 2013.
But a milestone like this seemed out of reach at the start of the tournament, as he arrived at the All England Club on the back of a six-match losing streak. Hurkacz had been in his best form of the season after capturing the Miami Open presented by Itau title, his first ATP Masters 1000 triumph, backing up his strong start to the year at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.
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He struggled to string together match wins as the ATP Tour season turned to clay and then later to grass, going 0-6 since winning his opening match at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April. But he never stopped believing in himself and trusting his game, Hurkacz said.
After falling in the first rounds of the MercedesCup in Stuttgart and NOVENTI OPEN in Halle, he recorded a confidence-boosting run to the Halle doubles final (w/ Auger-Aliassime) in the week before Wimbledon.
“I didn’t play on grass in a while. So coming into that match [against Stricker in the first round of Stuttgart], I didn’t have much confidence, much grass-court game,” he reflected. “Here, after winning a couple of matches, I really gained confidence and gained momentum. I believed in myself a lot before that [match] today.”
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Dreams come true ?????#Wimbledon #Hubi pic.twitter.com/4xJFUE02WB— Hubert Hurkacz (@HubertHurkacz) July 7, 2021
He has continued to make the most of his regained momentum and find the positives out of tough situations all fortnight long. Case in point: Hurkacz had to fight through World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in five sets to claim his biggest win-by-ranking in a match which started on No. 2 Court on Monday and finished under the Centre Court roof on Tuesday – leaving him with one less day of rest heading into the quarter-final.
Rather than bemoan his tough luck, Hurkacz told press that he used the experience to improve his game and prepare himself for the big test to come against Federer on Wednesday.
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“I think it helped me a lot actually, feeling the atmosphere, feeling the court there,” Hurkacz said. “Obviously playing against Roger here in Wimbledon is always special with the crowd cheering so much. I didn’t experience that yesterday, but playing on the Centre Court, feeling the court helped a lot.”
Hurkacz will hope to keep the momentum going as he takes on seventh seed Matteo Berrettini for a palace in the Wimbledon final. He’s looking to become the first Polish player to contest the championship match here since Agnieszka Radwanska in 2012, and the first man from his country to do so in the Open Era.