Ash Barty has won the Australian Open final in straight sets against Danielle Collins to end a 44-year drought for Australian women at their home Grand Slam tournament
Barty now has Grand Slam singles titles on three surfaces, adding the hard court at Melbourne Park to her win on grass at Wimbledon last year and on clay at the 2019 French Open. She joins Serena Williams as the only active players on the women's tour with majors on all three surfaces.
O’Neil was involved in the night, too, after carrying the trophy into the stadium for the pre-match ceremony. The 28-year-old Collins was the fourth American to take on Barty in four consecutive rounds. Barty had beaten Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Madison Keys in straight sets.
She led 30-0 in the seventh game of the set, but started to lose momentum when Barty jumped on a second serve and sent a return winner down the line. Another forehand winner just caught the baseline and then Barty got a breakpoint chance with another powerful forehand. “As an Aussie, the most important part of this tournament is being able to share it with so many people,” Barty said. “This crowd is one of the most fun I’ve ever played in front of. You relaxed me, forced me to play my best tennis.”
Australian flags and the red, black and yellow Aboriginal flag were waved around the crowd. Cathy Freeman, who draped both flags around her to celebrate her gold medal in the 400 meters at the Sydney 2000 Olympics — one of the defining images of those Games — was sitting adjacent to the baseline in Rod Laver Arena in full support.
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