Barty time as Australia end a 44-year wait at the Australian Open

Throughout the last fortnight as she went about mesmerising her home fans at this Australian Open, Ashleigh Barty wouldn’t give away a drop of emotion. You’d probably get a glimpse of her variety of expressions from the cricket videos with her team while warming up, but nothing more than a smile on the tennis court, be it after winning her previous matches or entering the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday for the final to the roar of Slam-starved Aussie fans.

However, as Barty struck a forehand cross-court winner to finish the battle with American Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6(2), the world No 1 let it rip: a loud, drawn-out “yes” looking skyward with fists tightened, followed by another round of “yes” after the handshakes, this time with head down and knees bent but the fists still upward.

Having come relatively close yet staying afar the last three years (two quarter-finals and a semi-final) in Melbourne while winning two Grand Slams in Paris and London, Barty wouldn’t let the occasion of ending a long wait for a local Australian Open singles champion get to her. Until the end of that point, when she gifted herself a celebration, and a Grand Slam singles trophy to the Australian public after 44 years.

“It’s just a dream come true for me,” Barty said on court, with Christine O’Neill, the last Australian to win a Major singles title at home in 1978, watching on.

More emotions flowed from Barty when Evonne Goolagong Cawley walked out as the surprise guest to hand over the trophy at the presentation ceremony. Barty, among the most prominent of the current Indigenous athletes in Australia, has looked up to Goolagong Cawley, also an Indigenous icon, as her mentor. That Barty smile was still wide, though she was also fighting back tears now.

“As an Aussie, the most important part of this tournament is being able to share it with so many people,” Barty said in her victory speech to the crowd, which was raised to 80% of the capacity for the final weekend. “This crowd is one of the most fun I’ve ever had playing in front of. You relaxed me, forced me to play my best tennis.”

So did Collins. The Australian top seed had waltzed through to the title clash dropping just 21 games in six matches, but the American first-time Slam finalist was up for the challenge. That it would be a fascinating contest of contrasting styles was evident from the patterns of play in the first four games: Barty’s first serves would be the key while Collins attacked the second; Collins’s aggressive play from inside the baseline, especially off her backhand, would be a strong counter to Barty’s backhand slice.

Facing a break in the fifth game, Barty saved it with a forehand winner off a second serve return before getting out of the game with an ace. The pressure shifted to the Collins serve immediately. A couple of errors from the 28-year-old and Barty jumped on the opportunity, literally, with a forehand winner to earn a break point. A double fault handed Barty a 4-2 lead on a platter.

The Barty serve—which might not blow opponents away but breeze past them with refreshing change in direction, angle and variation—took care of the rest of the set. Fittingly, Barty ended it with an ace.

Some uncharacteristic unforced errors from Barty handed a couple of break chances to Collins in the second game of the second set. Barty saved one with an ace but on the next one, Collins pounced on the second serve with a ferocious backhand return that left Barty scrambling. Collins ended the point with a smash at the net. The ever-animated Collins was fired up.

She consolidated the early advantage, warding off break points and raking up winners even as Barty’s error count mounted (13 in the second set to 9 in the first). In her previous six matches, Barty was broken just once. Collins doubled that in the final; a couple of double faults and an easy forehand putaway miss by Barty meant the set, at 5-1, was almost wrapped up.

Almost. Barty got one break back as she began finding the winners off her forehand and cheap points off her serve again to make it 5-3. Collins had a second chance to close out the set in the ninth game, but Barty cranked up her forehand further (stats showed her forehand speed rose by 10 kmph in that game).

She ran around the ball, the footwork as smooth as a batter dancing down to a spinner, to generate winners off the forehand. The crucial game was also the first time the crowd really became a factor. As Barty played one her forehand sizzlers, there was collective gasp even as Collins was trying to chase it. As the American spoke to the umpire, the crowd booed. Collins lost the next point to squander a four-game lead.

Instead of forcing a decider, Collins was into a tiebreaker. Deflated, she started off with an unforced error while Barty continued to inflict damage with her stinging forehand, mixing it up with a drop shot to set up a point. At 5-1 when Collins’s backhand return off the second serve—her signature strike—crashed into the net, it signalled the end was near.

Celebrations for the home star, having bottled it all up until then, could finally begin.

“It was a little bit surreal,” Barty told reporters. “I didn’t quite know what to do or what to feel, and I think just being able to let out a little bit of emotion, which is a little bit unusual for me, and being able to celebrate with everyone who was there in the crowd… was incredible.”

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