Ashleigh Barty WINS Wimbledon title after three-set victory over Karolina Pliskova

Ash Barty authenticated her world number one status with a triumphant performance that brought her a first Wimbledon title.

The former French Open winner, who sat out so much tennis during the pandemic, showed that she has properly resumed being the world’s best player with a 6-3 6-7 6-3 victory that took an hour and 56 minutes.

The 25 year-old Australian took advantage of an initially nervy performance from an opponent who stands eight inches taller than her. By doing so she won on the same Centre Court that Evonne Goolagong did when she first won Wimbledon 50 years ago.

Ashleigh Barty won Wimbledon with a three-set 6-3 6-7 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova

The top seed produced a super display to cement her status as the best women’s player 

She also became Australia’s first singles champion of either sex since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, closing the match out with an edgy service game.

Throwing different spins and paces at the 6” 1’ Czech, Barty eventually built on a dominant start that at one point looked in danger of turning into an embarrassing rout. Pliskova recovered admirably to fully use her wingspan but was ultimately outfoxed by a more agile opponent.

The number eight seed took more than half an hour to get her fearsome serve going, and lost the first 14 points of the match, going halfway to losing what is known as a ‘Golden Set’. When she did get on the board it brought a huge cheer from the crowd which included figures as diverse as William and Kate, and Tom Cruise.

The women’s final was played out in front of a full Centre Court with Tom Cruise present

A strangely seesaw match saw seven of the first eleven games won to love before Pliskova found her bearings early in the second.

The slice of Barty, forcing her to get down low, always proved difficult, while the Australian’s return of serve was a more than adequate match for her biggest weapon.

Pliskova began to play much better in the second set and was in the ascendancy at 5-5 and 40-0 before losing five points in a row against the relentless slice of Barty.

Australian Barty began strong and broke Pliskova twice in the Czech’s first two service games

Pliskova put in a great fight to win the second set via a tiebreak despite falling a break behind

In this curious contest of sharp undulations, the Australian was then broken to fifteen after overhitting a series of forehands.

The tiebreak pivoted on a dramatic 7th point when Pliskova was helped by a fortunate netcord which allowed her to lob her diminutive opponent, and she took it 7-4 when Barty double faulted.

It was only the second time since 2006 that a Wimbledon women’s final has gone to a deciding set.

Pliskova was broken in its second game when she missed a sitter of a volley at the net. Barty held onto her serve but faced a break point at 5-3 after also missing a volley, but then recovered her nerve to win when the Czech netted a backhand, climbing into the stands to celebrate.

Sportsmail’s SAM BLITZ was on the live blog for coverage of the women’s Wimbledon final