Melbourne – Overjoyed, Ashleigh Barty enjoyed her lap of honour as the first home Australian Open winner in 44 years. With her eyes closed, she kissed the coveted trophy.
The tennis world number one capped her magnificent fortnight at her home Grand Slam with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) win over surprise American finalist Danielle Collins in the Melbourne final to provide Australia with a historic sporting moment. “Wow,” Barty said beaming at the Rod Laver Arena, “This is just a dream of mine come true. I’m just so proud to be an Aussie. “
Barty ends Australians’ wait
The long wait of sports-loving Australians came to an end at 9.12pm local time on Saturday night. Barty is the first Australian tournament winner since Chris O’Neil in 1978 and the top seed took her first of four match points with a forehand passing shot in the tiebreak. All the tension from the weight of expectations fell off the 25-year-old. With a loud scream, she celebrated her third Grand Slam triumph after the French Open 2019 and the tournament victory in Wimbledon about half a year ago.
As in the packed Rod Laver Arena, enthusiastic cheers erupted in front of the screen at Melbourne Park. Barty’s first well-wisher was a tight hug for her old doubles partner Casey Dellacqua. “I’m so happy tonight to have so many people here who love me and support me. Pretty special that my mum, dad and sisters are here,” Barty said as she accepted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from the hands of her great role model Evonne Goolagong Cawley. “As an Aussie, the most important part of this tournament is sharing it with so many people,” Barty said, thanking the crowd: “You guys relaxed me, forced me to play my best tennis.”
For a fortnight, the world number one with the versatile stroke repertoire had roared through the first Grand Slam tournament of the young tennis season. After dropping just 21 games in six matches on her way to the final, she had to fight a little harder in the final act against Grand Slam final debutant Collins. Everything was set on an unusually cool evening for these two Grand Slam weeks in the Australian summer: Australian tennis icon Rod Laver was among the guests of honour as was Chris O’Neil. “I’m so happy for you tonight,” Laver congratulated. He said there was nothing better than winning at home.
Women’s final of opposites
From the start, the crowd in the packed Rod Laver Arena had conveyed that they wanted their hopeful to carry them to the title. The “Ash” cheers rang out tirelessly for the world number one, who was helped into the match by her outstanding serve. The world number 30 Collins performed unfazed and apparently unimpressed by the atmosphere. And she brought herself more and more into the match through her emotions. For a long time, she dominated the second set with her aggressiveness and pulled away to 5:1.
Barty, the first Australian Open finalist since Wendy Turnbull in 1980, made many a mistake that she might not have made in a normal match. Remarkably, however, she kept her composure despite being clearly behind in the second set and saved herself for the tiebreak. There she was ahead from the start and after her final success in 1:27 hours, she remained without losing a set in her seventh match. She can look forward to prize money of around 1.8 million euros.
“It’s been huge to see Ash climb up the rankings all the way to number one and live her dreams,” said Collins: “Now it’s time to celebrate a big night for Ash.” A day before the men’s final between Spanish 20-time Grand Slam tournament winner Rafael Nadal and Russian world number two Daniil Medvedev, the American missed out on her first Grand Slam title in her first major final. However, thanks to her remarkable finish after health problems, the 28-year-old moves into the top ten in the world rankings for the first time.