2LT National News
Barty beats Pliskova to win Miami Open title
Mar 31, 2019
Miami – Ashleigh Barty’s transformation is complete after the Australian defeated Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7/1) 6-3 on Saturday to win the biggest singles title of her career at the WTA Miami Open.
Barty, a junior Wimbledon winner at age 15, will rise from 11th to number nine in the world rankings and become the first Australian woman since Sam Stosur in June 2013 to crack the top 10.
Barty’s victory means that for the first time ever there have been 14 different winners in 14 WTA events so far this season.
The 27-year-old Czech came into the final with 31 aces, most in the women’s draw, but she won only 65% of points on her first serve compared to 86% from Barty.
Results from Saturday’s WTA and ATP Miami Open match (x denotes seed):
Ashleigh Barty (AUS x12) bt Karolina Pliskova (CZE x5) 7-6 (7/1), 6-3
