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Wimbledon 2021: Ashleigh Barty beats Angelique Kerber to reach final

Top seed Ashleigh Barty reached her first Wimbledon final with a straight-set win over former champion Angelique Kerber in the first women's semi-final.

Barty, 25, started strongly but had to fight off resistance from Kerber before securing a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) victory.

The Australian will face Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka or Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova in Saturday's final.

The pair, both playing their first SW19 semi-finals, meet later on Thursday.

Whoever it will be, they will face a world number one who has not dropped a set since the opening round.

Barty raised her racquet to her head after sealing victory in a high-quality contest, sharing a warm hug with 2018 champion Kerber at the net before taking the acclaim of the Centre Court crowd.