(FILA Luxembourg S.à r.l.) - FILA sponsored tennis player and World No.1 Ash Barty captured the Women’s Singles title at the Australian Open on Saturday, defeating Danielle Collins 6-3. 7-6(2). The triumph makes Barty the first Australian woman to win the Australian Open since Chris O’Neil did so in 1978 and also marks Barty’s third Grand Slam singles title, moving her one step away from completing the career Grand Slam.
After returning to play in early January and winning the Adelaide International singles and doubles titles, Barty entered the Melbourne Park field as the odds-on favorite to capture what many consider her ‘home’ Grand Slam. Barty blazed through the women’s draw with dominating performances, knocking off the likes of Lesia Tsurenko, Lucia Bronzetti and [31] Camila Giorgi, before edging out a group of rising Americans en route to the final.
In the fourth round, Barty was dominant on-serve against Amanda Anisimova, firing seven aces and registering a first serve win percentage of nearly 80%. Barty would go on to win the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, Barty surrendered only two games in a 6-2, 6-0 win over [21] Jessica Pegula. In 62 minutes of clean tennis, Barty defeated Madison Keys in the semifinals 6-1, 6-3, improving her career Grand Slam semifinal record to 3-1. The Keys triumph also made Barty the first Australian woman to reach the Australian Open singles final in 42 years (Turnbull, 1980).
In the first set of the high-stakes final against Danielle Collins, Barty continued her dominance on serve, utilizing her power and pinpoint precision to dictate the pace early. Barty took the first set 6-3. In the second set, the World No.1 fell into a 1-5 deficit early, but came back to win 6-3, 7-6(2). Barty finished the match with an impressive ten aces and after the straight set win, closed the book on a fortnight which saw her drop zero sets.
Said Barty in her victory speech after winning her home Slam, "As an Aussie, the most important part of this tournament is being able to share it with so many people. You guys today in the crowd have been nothing shy of exceptional. This crowd is one of the most fun I’ve ever played in front of and you guys brought me so much joy out here today. You relaxed me and you forced me to play my best tennis and against a champion like Danielle I know I had to absolutely bring that today.”