World number on Ashleigh Barty achieved historic success in her “home” Grand Slam tournament and won the Australian Open for the first time after a dramatic 2-0 (6:3, 7:6) victory over Danielle Collins in 1 hour and 29 minutes of play. The “Barty Party” started in Melbourne during the first match ball in the tiebreak of the second set, as the excited thousands of spectators at “Rod Laver Arena” and those in front of the courts did not stop supporting their favorite all the time.
Ashleigh Barty not only won her third Grand Slam title in her homeland but also became only the second current tennis player (after Serena Williams) to win “major” trophies on all different surfaces.
The Australian cemented herself as a national hero and finally justified her status as a favorite in Melbourne, showing nerves of steel in all matches and especially in the title race. She was 1:5 behind in the second set, but made a turnover and gained the advantage with a variety of games, including weapons such as cut backhand and forehand with a high parabola from the bottom of the court.
Ashleigh Barty was the first Australian to reach the final in Melbourne since 1980 and has now become the country’s first champion in 44 years, most recently by Christine O’Neil and Lleyton Hewitt on the verge of doing so in 2005, but lost to Marat Safin.
Although she faced only three of the tennis players and none of the top 20 (Danielle Collins started the tournament as 30th, but will debut in Top 10 on Monday) in the world rankings, it was impressive how Ashleigh Barty defeated all her opponents on the road to triumph and in total she spent only 7 hours and 35 minutes on the court.
Danielle Collins, like Jennifer Brady last year (losing the final to Naomi Osaka), could not become the first college champion in the United States to win a Grand Slam title in almost 40 years. However, with her incredibly sharp backhand, she earned her debut in the Top 10 in the world and still reached and fought in her first “major” final.
This is remarkable, given that the American, who has suffered from arthritis in recent years, had not played in a match for any WTA title until July 2021. She has since won two cups in Palermo and San Jose, and is now close to one in the Grand Slam, but could not become the fifth lowest-ranked champion in Australian Open history.
Ashleigh Barty started the match with more confidence with the stormy support of the fans in Melbourne. The two tennis players managed to take their passes to 3:2 for the Australian, who managed to break through her opponent in the sixth game and take an important lead. Ashleigh Barty never lost her advantage and closed the set with a quick game for 6:3. The first set lasted a little over half an hour.
In the second set, the roles were reversed, as Danielle Collins managed to lead, to break her opponent and consolidate the break to pull in the result with 3:0. She made another break in the set and confidently led by 5:1, as the match went very fast and there were no long points. However, the American missed the chance to close the set quickly after losing her serve and the result was reduced to 5:3. Danielle Collins changed her racket before the next serve, but that didn’t help either, and she lost her pass again to make it 5:4.
Before her crucial service, she complained to the chair judge that it was too noisy in the hall between her first and second services, and the audience was increasingly whistling and whistling at her. The Australian managed to equalize at 5:5, returning both breaks, making a remarkable turn. Pressed to the wall, however, Danielle Collins managed to take his serve for 6:5 and secure at least a tiebreak in the second set. The Australian won the 12th game of the match, mostly due to her strong service in the decisive moments.
In the tiebreak, the forces were very unequal, as Ashleigh Barty made two quick mini-breaks and took a 4:0 lead, with the change of field coming at 5:1. By the end, Danielle Collins managed to score only one point, and the Australian raised her hands victoriously after a great passing blow – 7:2 in the tiebreak.
