By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, July 10, 2021

Pain and pride were among the profound mixed emotions Karolina Pliskova felt after her Wimbledon final loss to Ash Barty today.

Dropping 14 straight points at the outset, Pliskova shook loose nerve shackles and battled Barty with all she had—even earning break point in the final game—before bowing 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3.

More: Twitter Reacts To Barty's Wimbledon Win

Pliskova said her inspired run to a second Grand Slam final solidifies her self belief she will raise a maiden major trophy someday.

"Definitely now I have more trust, more belief," Pliskova said. "I mean, more of everything to go in the next Grand Slams. Also it's been a while since I was actually in the second week of the Grand Slam. So I just hope everything's going to be a bit better now, all the tournaments, and let's see what's going to be in the US Open.

"There's still a chance. I played the final there, so it's not impossible. I will always try, so let's see."

The 29-year-old Pliskova should take pride in the fact she pushed Grand Slam champions to three-set finals in both of her major title matches. In the 2016 US Open final, Pliskova tested Angelique Kerber in a three set final. After today's slow start, Pliskova roused herself, found her range and rhythm and pushed Barty to the brink.

Pliskova has a strong believer in Barty, who says the former world No. 1's day as a Grand Slam champion will come.

"Kaja is an exceptional competitor. I think a lot of the time I feel like she's underestimated," Barty said of Pliskova. "She is one hell of a competitor. She wants it extremely badly. She fights so hard for every point. She's genuinely invested absolutely 100% in every point. You have to bring your best and be engaged for the whole match to compete with her.

"She's been a top-10 player for a number of, number of weeks now, one of the most consistent on the tour over the last, I don't know how many years, five or ten years. She's always been there, always been knocking on the door, always giving herself the opportunity.

"I know that Grand Slam title for her is not far away."

Effort exuded and the roaring embrace from the Centre Court crowd moved the normally stoic Pliskova to tears during the trophy ceremony.



The owner of 16 WTA titles felt the love and respect from fans and called it the best moment of her career.

"I think if I would lose that match in, like, two sets, I think I would be okay actually. But because it took me so much effort actually today to just be where I was, even though I lost, but just somehow struggling, I was fighting," Pliskova said. "Yeah, it was a lot of energy Ihad to put in there just to have that set, at least the second set.Even in the third I thought I was quite close for every her serve. It was quite difficult game.

"Doesn't matter now. But somehow I thought the crowd was amazing. I felt like so much support from the crowd. I enjoyed also, of course, Princess Kate was there. I saw all these people just being there. Of course, you think about that. I think I never had a better moment in my career. So of course it makes you a bit, let's say, more sensitive than I normally am. I enjoyed that."

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