Ashleigh Barty celebrated a Wimbledon final she thought impossible after beating Angelique Kerber to become the first Australian woman to reach the singles showpiece for 41 years.

Barty’s 6-3 7-6 (3) victory over 2018 champion Kerber puts her through to a second grand slam final and with the chance to emulate her mentor Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who won the second of her SW19 titles in 1980.

Barty’s outfit is a tribute to the one worn by Goolagong for the first of her victories in 1971 and the 25-year-old will go into the final against Karolina Pliskova as the favourite.

“You see that she has a lot of confidence, that she played a lot of big matches, that she’s the number one player in the world right now.

“That was in my mind, that I really came back after such a long time, that I was able to turn around everything, that I won the tournament at home in Germany, that I played here unbelievable tennis, that I put so many emotions and my heart on court.

“I was really fighting for every single point starting from the first round here. That means also a lot to me after the last few months. If you go out and you have the standing ovation at the Centre Court in Wimbledon, that’s the best feeling you can have, even if you lost.”