Ashleigh Barty created Australian tennis history as she became the first Australian in 44 years to lift the singles trophy at Melbourne Park.
Not since Christine O’Neil’s victory in 1978 has Australia been able to celebrate a homegrown winner at the Australian Open, and Barty’s straight-sets win over American Danielle Collins saw her etch her name into Aussie sporting folklore.
For world number one Barty, it was the next step in what seems to be a one-way ticket to the very top of the women’s game, and it sealed her third career Grand Slam singles title – after winning the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2021.
For Australia, having a home hope go all the way at Melbourne Park was the culmination of nearly four and a half decades of pain, and the 12,000-capacity crowd at the Rod Laver Arena celebrated accordingly.
To cap off a historic day for Australian tennis, Barty’s singles triumph was backed up by an incredible doubles win for Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The match itself was relatively one-sided, with Barty using all her variations to settle into the contest quicker than 27th seed Collins, who was playing in her first Grand Slam singles final, and the writing looked to be on the wall as Barty took the first set 6-3.
Collins settled into the battle far more in the second set, using her counter-punching style to good effect, and both players had chances to take the set before it spilled into a tie-break.
With the crowd noise at fever pitch, Barty was able to up her level sufficiently, taking it by 7 points to 2 to seal an incredible victory.
Barty looks set for a period of dominance at the top of the women’s game
Clinching her third Grand Slam title is hugely impressive for Barty, but it doesn’t tell the whole story for the Australian in recent seasons.
She has been one of the players most affected by the impact that COVID-19 has had on the international tennis schedule, and with strict immigration laws in Australia still in play, her schedule has been very light since 2020.
Barty only played the Australian Open in 2020, before missing the three remaining slams, while her win at Wimbledon in 2021 was superseded by relatively low-key showings at the Australian Open, French Open and US Open.
However, with her status as world number one firmly secured and question marks surrounding some of her key contenders, Barty looks set for a period of dominance at the top of the women’s game.
Naomi Osaka has endured some off-court struggles in recent times and is still finding her best form, while the likes of Simona Halep, Petra Kvitová and Serena Williams all look to have injury and form issues of their own currently.
As world number one, Barty is the player that everyone on the WTA Tour wants to beat, while the Australian will be looking to add more Grand Slams to her ever-growing collection in 2022.
