Wimbledon Ladies’ Championship on ESPN: #1 Ash Barty, #8 Karolina Pliskova Seek First Wimbledon Title

Tennis

Wimbledon Ladies’ Championship on ESPN: #1 Ash Barty, #8 Karolina Pliskova Seek First Wimbledon Title

  • Breakfast at Wimbledon Precedes the Action at 8 a.m. ET  
  • ESPN+ with all Outer Courts – Doubles, Juniors and Wheelchair Matches   
  • Encore on ABC at 3 p.m. ET   
  • Gentlemen’s, Ladies’ Doubles Championships Round Out the ESPN Telecast 
  • Sunday’s Gentlemen’s Championship:  #1 Novak Djokovic Seeks 20th Major Title vs. #7 Matteo Berrettini 

ESPN’s exclusive coverage of The Championships, Wimbledon continues with the Ladies’ Championship on Saturday, July 10, at 9 a.m. ET with a true contrast in styles when top-seeded Ash Barty faces #8 Karolina Pliskova.  It is the first matchup of first-time Wimbledon women’s finalists since 1977 (Virginia Wade def. Betty Stove).  Breakfast at Wimbledon will precede the action at 8 a.m.   

Top-seeded Barty, who won the Wimbledon Girls’ Championship 10 years ago at 15, won the 2019 French Open but never before progressed past the fourth round in the main draw at Wimbledon.  She has been the world No. 1 since September 2019 and has 11 career titles.  Only, 5’5”, she is known as a crafty player with a wide variety of shots.  She is the first Australian woman to reach the Wimbledon final since her childhood hero, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, in 1980.   

Pliskova, a 29-year-old from the Czech Republic, was the top-ranked player in the world for eight weeks in 2017.  At 6’2”, she has a powerful serve and ground strokes and has won 16 career titles.  She is one of the few active players to have reached the semifinals at all four Majors.  She played in the finals at the US Open in 2016.  She never before has progressed beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon.  

The two have played seven times, with Barty prevailing in five of them.  Their most recent meeting was this April on clay in Stuttgart.  Barty dropped the first set but won in three.  They’ve played twice on grass, in 2012 and ’16, and they split two close matches. 

Chris Fowler and Chrissie Evert will call the match.  An encore presentation will be aired on ABC at 3 p.m.  

The Ladies’ Championship will be followed on ESPN by the Gentlemen’s Doubles Championship and the Ladies’ Doubles Championship.   

ESPN+ with More Action 

Beyond Centre Court, action on courts 1, 3, 12, 14 and 18 is available on the ESPN App with ESPN+.  Play begins at 6 a.m. and includes Juniors and Wheelchair matches.   

Gentlemen’s Championship Sunday – Djokovic on the Brink of History 

Sunday’s Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Championship will begin at 9 a.m., preceded by Breakfast at Wimbledon at 8 a.m.  Top-seed Novak Djokovic will seek his sixth Wimbledon title and third straight for a career total of 20, tying the men’s record shared by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.  In his way is 25-year-old Matteo Berrettini of Italy who is in his first Major final.  That match will be followed by the Mixed Doubles Championship.  

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Dave Nagle

As I write this on 11-11-21, it's now 35 years for me at ESPN, the only real job I’ve ever had. I joined merely to help with the upcoming America’s Cup in Australia. I was told it would be for three months at all of $5.50 per hour. I like to say I simply kept showing up. I’ve worked on almost every sport, plus answered viewer calls and letters (people used to write!), given tours, written the company newsletter and once drove NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon to the local airport. My travels have been varied…I’ve been to Martinsville, Darlington, Indy and Super Bowls; the America’s Cup (all 3) in San Diego and College GameDay in the sport’s meccas such as Eugene, Auburn, Lubbock, Stillwater and more; the NBA Finals, Wimbledon (16 times and counting) and the “other Bristol,” the one with a race track in Tennessee. These days, my main areas are tennis, UFC, boxing, network-wide ratings (by month/quarter/year), and corporate communications documents, including fact sheets, chronologies, lists and nearly 35 of the Year in Review press releases. UPDATE EXACTLY ONE YEAR LATER: Today, November 11, 2022, I am retiring from ESPN -- 36 years to the day I began. As I ride off into the sunset – top down and E Street Radio blaring – I do so with so many wonderful memories, proud of my contributions and a heart full of gratitude for the opportunity. 
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