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Ashleigh Barty after winning the 2022 Australian Open
Ashleigh Barty after winning the 2022 Australian Open | (Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images)

Tennis | Australian Open 2022 | Barty ends 44-year Aussie drought for a home-grown women’s singles champion

Britwatch Team
Tennis

By Ros Satar

  • Ashleigh Barty [1] def. Danielle Collins [27] 6-3 7-6(2)
  • Has now won a Grand Slam title on all three surfaces

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Ashleigh Barty beat Danielle Collins, becoming the first Australian woman since Chris O’Neil to win her home Slam.

 

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How the match was won

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Ashleigh Barty has come in for a lot of flak since the pandemic-era of tennis. Having won the French Open, her maiden Slam, in 2019 as well as the season-ending finals, the pandemic saw Barty start the year well but call time on her season after Doha as the world shut down. Returning to the tour in 2021 she remained consistent and backed up her maiden Slam with the Wimbledon title – an emotional win where she wore a dress inspired by Evonne Goolagong.

So, it was fitting that after a monumental tussle she would get to receive her prize from the woman herself.

The atmosphere was electric, in a tight first set against American 27th seed Danielle Collins. The intensity that Collins had showed in demolishing Iga Swiatek in the semi-final was on display as she was the first bring up break points, but to no avail as Barty broke in the next game for a 4-2 lead and hold that for the first set.

The trademark yells from Collins picked up a notch in the second set as she moved through her gears and Barty seemed to be a lot tighter. The American swiftly jumped out to a 3-0 lead, effectively silencing the crowd, but never count Barty out.

Despite losing her serve a second time, Barty came back from 1-5 down to reel off four games in a row to level at 5-5 and going on to force a tie-break.

From there it became one way traffic in the tie-break with Barty letting out an uncharacteristic roar as she got over the line.

 

The reaction

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Having seen Chris O’Neil bring the Daphne Akhurst trophy down at the start of the proceedings, it was a welcome surprise to see Evonne Goolagong welcomed out on court to do the presentations.

Congratulations came in from players including two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and three-time Slam champion Angelique Kerber.

 

With this win Barty joins Serena Williams as the only active player to have won a slam on three different surfaces.

She told reporters, after the match: “It’s amazing to be able to have this experience and this opportunity on three different surfaces and be really consistent across the board,” Barty told reporters afterward. “Ultimately that was one of the biggest challenges that [early mentor] Jim [Joyce] set out for me when I was young was to be a complete player and be really consistent across all surfaces and be able to play on all surfaces.

“So, to have a Grand Slam title on each surface is pretty amazing. I never probably thought it would ever happen to me.”

The Australian Open final will conclude on Sunday 30 January.

 

How to Watch/Follow Australian Open 2022

TV Discovery+, Eurosport

BBC Radio 5 Live Extra

Highlights on BBC Two (from 22 January)
Live Stream Discovery+ Add-on via Amazon Prime

Sign up for 30 day free trial of Prime Video and a 7-day free trial of Discovery+ Player

 
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