London: The most prestigious grand slam event, the Wimbledon final is around the corner. Ashleigh Barty of Australia will go head-to-head against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the women's singles final. This is the first Wimbledon final of Ashleigh Barty who is currently the number one seeded tennis player. 


A lesser-known fact about Barty is that she has been a professional cricketer too, for a short while. She was part of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) of Australia. Barty has been involved in professional tennis since she was 15. She made her Wimbledon debut in 2013 but then later in 2014 she decided to take a break from tennis to play cricket. 



Barty's Cricket Career


Ashleigh Barty also known as Ash Barty, in 2015 began training with the Queensland Fire squad in Australia at age 19. She was later signed by Brisbane Heat in the BBL. Barty played for Western Suburbs District Cricket Club in Brisbane before signing for Heat. In the nine matches she played for Brisbane Heat, she scored 68 runs at an average of 11.33 - a below-average record considering all things. 


Barty began her tennis career playing doubles. She even won a US Open title in 2018. Barty's high point was her 2019 Roland Garros singles title. She defeated Kerber in the semi-final this year to reach her first-ever Wimbledon final. 


The Wimbledon Women's singles final will be played on Saturday. The live telecast of the final will be on Star Sports while the live streaming will be available on Disney+Hotstar.