History beckons for Barty or Collins in Australian Open final clash
For the second year in a row, the championship will come down to the tour’s hottest player, world number one Ashleigh Barty and a surging former collegiate star, American Danielle Collins as the two collide in the Australian Open final on Saturday.
Barty became the first Australian woman to reach the final of her home Grand Slam for more than 40 years after seeing off Madison Keys in straight sets at a packed Rod Laver Arena. The Wimbledon champion is aiming to become the first Australian to lift the trophy since Christine O’Neil in 1978.
The 27th seeded Danielle Collins reached her first career Grand Slam final after beating Poland’s Iga Swiatek, the American powering her way to a 6-4 6-1 triumph. Collins would be playing in her maiden major final with her previous best display at one of the big 4 tournaments, a semifinal round at Melbourne in 2019. Collins dream run at Melbourne Park means she’s already assured of reaching the WTA top 10 for the first time.
The world number one on the other hand has been looking like a different beast, having not lost a single set in 21 games across 6 matches and has spent 4 hours less than Collins on court. They have met 4 times at top level tennis but Barty leads the count 3-1. Collins however did manage to win their most recent meeting, a 6-3 6-4 victory at the Adelaide International.
It looks to be a Barty party in Melbourne at the final, but Collins would be eager to spoil any thoughts of it in order to bag her maiden Grand Slam crown.
I might be bias or sentimental but I would like to see Barty win just to see the Aussie’s reaction….more than 40yrs of not being in the finals is no joke….