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Pliskova follows famous footsteps in lead event on day of finals

Pliskova follows rich heritage
From Martina Navratilova to Jana Novotna to Petra Kvitova, there is a long and rich history of Czech-born women making an impact at the All England Club and that could continue on Saturday when Karolina Pliskova plays in her first Wimbledon final.

Navratilova (main image, with Chris Evert) gathered nine titles between 1978 and 1990, Novotna won hers in 1998, and Kvitova was the champion twice, in 2011 and 2014. Until this summer Pliskova had never gone beyond the fourth round at The Championships, but she has played some fine grass court tennis this Fortnight, taking her through to play Ashleigh Barty, the World No.1 from Australia, for the Venus Rosewater Dish. Barty, who has dreamed of winning this tournament since childhood, is the first Australian to play in a Wimbledon final since Evonne Goolagong Cawley defeated Evert in 1980 for the second of her titles on the grass.


NAVRATILOVA LIFTING THE VENUS ROSEWATER DISH
Croat duo seek to confirm seeding
The all-Croatian pairing of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, who have been the dominant team on the doubles scene this season, will play for the Wimbledon title. The No.1 seeds face Spain's Marcel Granollers and Argentina's Horacio Zeballos.


MUTUAL SUPPORT: METKIC (STANDING) & PAVIC
Russians aim to make escape count
A couple of Russian escapologists, Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova, will play for the ladies' doubles title on Saturday. Having saved three match points in their semi-final against Australia's Storm Sanders and America's Caroline Dolehide, they play Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh and Belgium's Elise Mertens for the title.


TWO HEADS BETTER THAN ONE: KUDERMETOVA & VESNINA (FRONT)
Alcott also on golden path
Novak Djokovic isn't the only singles player at the All England Club who could still achieve the calendar-year Grand Slam this season. Australia's Dylan Alcott, who has already won this year's Australian Open and Roland-Garros titles, faces Dutchman Sam Schroder in the quad wheelchair singles final.

The pair are partners in the doubles but lost to Andy Lapthorne and David Wagner in Friday's final.


ALCOTT (LEFT) AND SCHRODER: PARTNERS AND OPPONENTS
Andorra on Wimbledon map
Andorra has a population of 77,000 and, according to the International Tennis Federation, just one indoor court. But, in Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, the small nation has the No.1 seed in the girls' singles. She plays Germany's Nastasja Mariana Schunk in the semi-finals.