Party time for Barty

World No. 1 beats Collins to end 44-year wait for home champion at Australian Open.

Ashleigh Barty became the first home Australian Open champion since 1978 after beating grand slam final debutante Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6 in Saturday’s final.

The world No. 1 was utterly dominant throughout the tournament and clinched a historic title without even dropping a set.

Australian tennis fans had to wait more than four decades for one of their own to be crowned Australian Open champion, with the last home win coming courtesy of Chris O’Neil.

Barty’s grand slam tally now stands at three -- her previous titles coming at the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2021 -- and the 25-year-old is without a doubt currently the most dominant force on the women’s tour.

With most of her career likely still ahead of her, the only question remaining around Barty’s grand slam credentials is: how many?

“I’ve said numerous times I’m so lucky tonight to have numerous people here that love and support me,” Barty said in her post-match interview. “I’m a fortunate and lucky girl to have so much love in my corner, we started together right from the start. We did it all together, nobody has changed from our team. I love you to death.

Blistering start

Neither player showed any signs of nerves in the opening stages and exchanged some blistering shots early on.

Collins’ trademark backhand was causing Barty all sorts of problems, with the Aussie struggling to contain the powerful groundstroke as it ripped through the Rod Laver court.

However, Barty was able to respond on her own serve, crushing an early 181km/h ace past her opponent as she managed to save an early break point -- much to the delight of the crowd.

The partisan home support was certainly showing its allegiances early on, erupting each time Barty won a point.

Even Collins’ reaching the final is one of the most remarkable comeback stories in tennis.

In April last year, she underwent emergency surgery for endometriosis -- a condition where the tissue that lines the uterus grows outside of it -- and had suffered an abdominal injury at the French Open.

The 28-year-old has spoken candidly about the excruciating pain she endured, describing it as some of the worst she has experienced.

Collins has credited the surgeon for saving her career and she’s now playing some of the best tennis of her life, with her run to final in Melbourne projected to push her into the world’s top 10 for the first time.

Both players put in solid service games to take the set to a tie break, though Collins must have been wishing those first serves had come a couple of games earlier.

Barty raced into 4-0 lead in the tie break and never looked like losing it from there, eventually closing it out 7-2 -- and it was now party time on Rod Laver.

After waiting 44 long years, Australia once again has its own grand slam singles champion.