MELBOURNE, Australia — Ashleigh Barty ended a 44-year drought Saturday by becoming the first Australian to win an Australian Open singles title since 1978.
The world No. 1 and crowd favourite capped off a dominant fortnight at Melbourne Park, overcoming American 27th seed Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6(2) on Rod Laver Arena, to clinch her home Slam without dropping a single set.
After wrapping up a comfortable first set in just 32 minutes, Barty found herself in a 1-5 hole when Collins began to apply her trademark aggression and fierce groundstrokes at the beginning of the second set. But Barty was able to rally and reel off four consecutive games to draw level at 5-5, and eventually take the set to a tie-breaker.
The Queenslander showed nerves of steel to win seven of nine points in the tie-breaker, letting out a roar of excitement after winning championship point.
Barty, 25, has now won three of the four major trophies and is a perfect 3-0 in Slam finals.
Her maiden Grand Slam title came at the French Open in 2019 where she defeated Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets. Last year she added Wimbledon to her resume with victory over two-time tournament champion Karolina Pliskova.
Barty joins Serena Williams as the only active women’s player to have won at least three different majors and the season-ending WTA Finals.
She’s also now in a group of five, including Williams and the men’s Big Three — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — as active players to have won a major title on all three surfaces.
Barty will also pocket AU$2,875,000 (US$2,009,000) for winning the tournament.
More to follow…
