Party like it’s 1978: 4 MILLION tune in as Ash Barty claims Aus Open glory

Ash Barty overcame the burden of 44 years of history and the expectation of a nation to win her first Australian Open trophy by beating American Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6 at Melbourne Park on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old Queenslander added the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup to her trophy cabinet after winning the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon last year to become the first home-grown winner of the Australian Open since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

Such was her dominance throughout the tournament, Barty’s more than capable of flooding the trophy with her name in the next few years after the drought of more than four decades for Australian women at their home grand slam.

News broke on Sunday morning that Barty’s triumph was the most-watched women’s final since Australian audience measurement research firm OzTAM started keeping records, with a staggering 4.261 million sets of eyeballs tuning in.

With a parochial crowd at Rod Laver Arena cheering her every move, Barty was jubilant, letting out an enormous roar of delight, when she clinched the win over Collins, who was rated a long shot against the world No.1.

A proud Ngarigo woman, Barty received the trophy from another Australian Indigenous icon, her childhood hero Evonne Goolagong Cawley with both champions beaming from ear to ear on stage.

“It was a hell of a surprise, I don’t know how Craig [tournament director Craig Tiley] kept that a secret. To be honest, I’m really glad I didn’t know because I think I would have been under the pump, I would’ve been feeling it.

“I haven’t seen her since this time last year so we’ve got a few more hugs to celebrate yet. It was unbelievable to see her.”

She said the build-up to the night match was draining and it was a relief to get her hands on the Australian Open trophy after eight previous attempts.

“This is incredible. Time and time again we’ve come so close and now to have my hands on such a beautiful trophy after such an exceptional fortnight is just unbelievable,” she said.

“I’m so lucky tonight to have so many people here that love me, support me. It’s pretty bloody special that Mum, Dad and my sisters are here. I’m pretty rapt with that, that they were able to come down [from Queensland] today.”

If Barty was nervous about the weight of a nation’s expectation, she showed few signs in the opening game, holding serve despite dropping a couple of points.

Collins became just the second player this tournament to hold her serve at her first attempt and the 28-year-old 27th seed – playing the first grand slam final after more than a decade on the tour – didn’t seem overawed by the situation as the first set progressed without Barty asserting her dominance.

An uncharacteristic unforced error from Barty, when she had her opponent on the run, opened up a break point at 2-2 but the local favourite unfurled a curling forehand to close the door on Collins.

Next game, Barty applied the pressure and the occasion got to Collins for the first time, double-faulting on break point to go down 4-2.

Apart from a rare double fault of her own, Barty strolled to a 5-2 advantage and, after Collins gritted her way to hold serve again, the Australian star sealed the first set 6-3 in 32 minutes when she unleashed her 11th winner.

Her class was evident whenever a rally was generated – Barty was often holding her shot until the last nanosecond to fool Collins or managed to match the American’s power game with equal force but added placement.

As has been the case in recent outings, Barty’s first serve percentage was low at 53% but she won 15 of those 16 points while also finding success with half of her second serves.

Collins had Barty under pressure at 15-40 and after conceding an ace, she smashed her way to a 2-0 advantage. In her preceding six matches, Barty had only had her serve broken once, by American rising star Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round.

Barty botched a golden chance to hit back when she shanked an easy backhand volley on break point as she fell behind 3-0, her first deficit in a second set for the Open.

Collins revved herself up as she stretched out to a 4-1 lead, her screams of joy echoing throughout Rod Laver Arena as the Melbourne Park crowd were silenced by what has become a rare sight of Barty being subdued.

When she did the unthinkable and broke Barty for a second time, Collins had a chance to close out the set but failed to convert the opportunity.

Barty scrapped back to 5-3 down and Collins again squandered a chance to force a decider at 5-4 as the top seed broke again to draw level with her fourth straight game.

Collins finally regained her composure on serve and Barty held again to force a tie-break.

An overhead smash after a frantic rally helped Barty blast ahead to a 4-0 buffer and the crowd’s rising roar was clearly getting to the visiting underdog.

Barty edged ahead to 6-2 and four championship points and only needed one, winning it all with a beautifully placed running forehand.

“I just tried to get a little more aggressive. I went through a phase where I gave Danielle too many looks at second serves and she’s one of the best returners in the world,” Barty told Nine when asked about her lull in the second set.

“Just through those couple of games from 5-1 I just wanted to get some momentum going into the third [set], look for forehands and try to control the ball a little bit more.”

Barty had won three of their previous four meetings on tour, but Collins had won their most recent encounter, a straight-sets effort at Adelaide last summer.

Collins will rise into the top 10 in the rankings for the first time when they’re released next week after going 32-8 since July.

Barty had lost just 21 games in the six matches before the final without even looking like dropping a set, spending an average of one minute over an hour on court each time.

Only Serena Williams (16 in the 2013 US Open) and Venus Williams (20 at Wimbledon in 2009) had lost fewer games en route to the final.

Collins had spent four and a half hours more on court in qualifying for the title decider.

Barty’s vanquished quarter-final opponent Jessica Pegula admitted she was “definitely living in everyone’s head a little bit” this tournament.

“She seems completely in control” added her semi-final victim, Madison Keys.

Although she wasn’t always in total control on Saturday night, Barty did more than enough to overcome Collins and write yet another chapter in her place in Australian tennis history.