By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, January 29, 2022
World No. 1 Ash Barty won five games in a row defeating Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6(2) to become the first Aussie woman in 44 years to win the Australian Open.
Photo credit: Getty
Ashleigh Barty reigned winners to end a 44-year Aussie title drought in superb style.
World No. 1 Barty battled back from a 1-5 second-set lead defeating Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6(2) in the Australian Open final becoming the first Aussie—man or woman—to capture the AO singles championship since Chris O’Neil in 1978.
More: Twitter Reacts To Barty's AO Triumph
Watching from the front row, O’Neil stood and issued a thumbs up to Barty welcoming her to the AO champions club and unleashing a national Barty Party celebrating the 100th edition of the Australian Open women's tournament home style.
It was a dominant display of pure homecoming celebration from Barty, who conceded just 30 games in seven tournament victories. The 25-year-old Barty received the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from her tennis mentor and Aussie legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley as the pair stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the blue stage and beamed.
"As an Aussie the most important part of this tournament is being able to share it with so many people; you guys tonight in the crowd have been nothing short of exceptional," Barty said. "This crowd is one of the most fun I’ve ever played in front of. You guys brought me so much joy, you relaxed me, you forced me to play my best tennis and against a champion like Danielle I knew I had to bring that today so thank you so much for your love and support all these weeks.
"This just a dream come true for me and I am so proud to be be an Aussie."
It is the third Grand Slam title in as many major finals for Barty, who applied her all-court acumen brilliantly charging through seven matches without surrendering a set. The 2019 Roland Garros champion and reigning Wimbledon winner can complete the career Grand Slam by winning the US Open.
The 25-year-old Barty joins Serena Williams as the only active woman to win three major championships on three different surfaces. Among active men, only world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have achieved it.
Credit the 27th-seeded Collins, a 50 to 1 longshot to take the title before the tournament began, for standing and firing against the top seed and the Melbourne crowd rolling to a 5-1 second set lead. Collins' first serve abandoned her at closing time and Barty roared through the finish line. Barty belted 19 of her 30 winners in that second-set charge.
Turbulent times have tested Collins in recent years.
The woman who learned tennis on the public park courts of St. Petersburg, Florida from her father, Walter Collins, exuded champion's heart and warrior will reaching her first Grand Slam final. Collins has battled rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that can create painful swelling in the joints. Last April, Collins endured emergency surgery to treat endometriosis.
Physical trials have made the woman nicknamed "Danimal" even tougher and more appreciative of her current position helping her rise to a career-high rank of No. 10 as she succeeds 2020 AO champion Sofia Kenin as the new American No. 1.
"Physically it wasn't my best day unfortunately, and that was something that I was dealing with in the whole tournament, so I look forward to playing her when I feel 100 percent," said Collins, who stood during changeovers throughout the tournament in an effort to prevent surging back spasms.
"It's not easy going out and playing someone pretty much on their home court, on home soil, in the finals of a major, but this is what we live for in sports, right?" Collins said. "These are incredible moments that you don't get to experience very often. It was a real honor to be out there.
"I tried to embrace every moment, I tried to get the crowd fired up. I tried to get myself into it, did everything I could. You know, even though the crowd was clearly for Ash, I felt like I had a lot of really great support there, which was great for me, being in that situation."
The 5'6" Aussie delivered declarative serving performance pumping 10 aces and winning 31 of 38 first-serve points in a one hour, 27-minute triumph.
Precision serving helped Barty set up her first-strike forehand in the opening set, out-serve the American after Collins snatched the 5-1 second-set lead and close the match in the tiebreaker.
"When you're playing someone like Danielle who is one of the best returners in the game, you just can't give her that many looks at serves because she is going to take the opportunity, and I think in the second set she was able to really get a run on and put me in places in the court where I didn't want to be," Barty said. "Then I had to make a change tactically to try and bring it back to my kind of flow a little bit, and being able to just take the game on and take a few more risks when I was down in that second set, then I think stemmed the momentum and kind of changed the flow of the match.
"But all in all, across the entire match, I was just trying to, as regularly as possible, play my patterns and not let Danielle control the court from the center of the court and inside the baseline."
The first Aussie woman to contest the AO final since Wendy Turnbull 42 years ago received a massive ovation from the Melbourne faithful, including O’Neil and actor Russell Crowe, as she walked out on court for her third major final.
The top-seeded Aussie entered the final riding a dominant serve: Barty had won 46 of 47 service games en route to the final. Barty threw down three aces in her first two service games.
Sixteen minutes into the match, Collins used her crosscourt forehand to carve out the first break point of the night in the fifth game. Barty, who had faced just 15 break points in reaching her first AO final, leaned on her lashing forehand to quiet the threat holding for 3-2.
Opening the court with a sliding crosscourt forehand, Barty finished with a forehand for her first break point. A jittery Collins blinked first floating her first double fault to drop serve and hand the Aussie a 4-2 lead.
The Wimbledon winner plowed through a strong hold at 15 extending to 5-2 after 25 minutes of play.
The running forehand is a big Barty weapon and she whipped it sharply to open the ninth game. Barty banged her fifth ace down the middle sealing a declarative 32-minute opening set that saw her win 15 of 16 first-serve points.
Clad completely in black, Collins pounced from a predatory posture smacking a return to earn double break point in Barty’s opening serve game of the second set. Collins hammered her trademark backhand crosscourt return, moved forward and threw down a smash to break for a 2-0 second set lead with an eruption of emotion.
It was just the second time Barty dropped serve all tournament—and first since her fourth-round win over American Amanda Anisimova.
The feisty Collins fended off a pair of break points, catching a break when Barty botched a backhand volley, battling through a five-minute hold with a rousing “come on!” confirming the break in the third game.
Punishing a series of deep returns, Collins coaxed a pair of double faults and a forehand drive error in the sixth game. A fired up Collins cracked a return right back down the middle rattling out a second break for 5-1. It was Collins second break and the first time all tournament an opponent won five games in a set vs. the top seed.
Battling back spasms throughout the tournament, Collins could not consistently land her first serve when she first served for the second set. Barty made her pay with a deep diagonal forehand return breaking back in the seventh game. Collins said the combination of Barty's aggression and her own inability to fully rotate into her shots were key factors losing her lead.
"I think she started to push me back in the court a little bit more," Collins said. "I think I was having some issues really being able to fully rotate on some of my shots to be able to get my shots to where I needed them to be.
"It was really unfortunate, but did everything I could, tried to push through it. Fell short. She definitely, you know, came up with some great shots in some of those big moments, especially with her serving and pushing me back in the court."
Serving for the set for a second time, Collins again struggled to find first serves. Barty teed off on a second serve return gaining another break point to spike a roar from the Aussie crowd. Collins complained to the chair umpire over the crowd’s premature exclamation, but sent her signature shot into the net as Barty broke again to get back on serve.
A recharged Barty banged her ninth ace leveling after 10 games.
Afterward, Barty said her determination to stay in touching distance turned the set around.
"Once it was 1-5 down I just wanted to try and shift and be a little more aggressive, adjust a couple of things tactically just to get momentum if we went to a third," Barty said. "Tennis is a funny game with the scoring system and things can change so quickly it feels like at times.
"So it was just important for me to try and stay in touch, and I knew that the crowd would love it if I could stay close and get involved. It was, yeah, it was incredible to be able to really, in a way, from 5-1 down turn nothing into something and be able to get some real momentum throughout that set."
The set escalated into the first tie breaker either woman played in the tournament.
Embed from Getty Images
Exploiting two Collins errors, Barty blitzed a forehand winner for a 3-0 tie breaker lead. A slick drop shot set up a soaring smash stretching to 4-0.
Working over the American power player’s forehand, Barty drew a wild forehand for four championship points.
Curling a crosscourt forehand pass, Barty capped a brilliant tournament with a bang and an eruption of pure exhilaration.
The 2011 Wimbledon girls' champion at age 15, Barty was widely regarded as a future Grand Slam contender, but suffered from home sickness and took an 18-month sabbatical from tennis to play pro cricket.
The woman wearing the ruby red Fila sneakers showed there's no place like home in a stirring run to the title.