Karolina Pliskova, who has reached Wimbledon final and will face world no Ashleigh Barty, is “super proud” of herself for the way she handled being a set down to come back. The 29-year-old, who had earlier never been beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon, said, “I never thought about, like, maybe going into the final.”

She beat second seed Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and squandered all eight break points she created in the first set.

Talking about her ambitions at the beginning of the tournament, Pliskova said, “The dream was to make the second week, of course, because I was not in the second week for a while.”

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“I am super proud about the way how I handled the situation out there, the second and third set, and that I served out the match.”

Pliskova, talking about facing her contender Ashleigh Barty in the tournament final, said, “I think it can’t be any better than that.” Barty defeated 2018 Wimbledon winner Angelique Kerber in the other semi-final and will clash with Pliskova in the showpiece final on Saturday.   

“You want to play the best player in the final. Of course, I don’t want anybody else but her there,” the 29-year-old said. 

This will be Pliskova’s second Grand Slam final after she lost at the 2016 US Open. The 29-year-old tennis player is the first Czech finalist at the tournament since 2014 when Petra Kvitova won her title. 

“It sounds amazing to be in the final as I never got past the fourth round here before,” said Pliskova, who is known for her powerful serve and forehand.

She added, “I had so many chances in the first set and I got frustrated. A lot of credit to her, she played a great match. I’m super happy to have found a way to win.”

“She plays so fast. I didn’t have time to think about what I needed to do. She’s super powerful.”