Ashleigh Barty advances to Australian Open final

So they haven’t had much to celebrate for a long time, and you can already hear the popping of the corks. The Australian Festival in Melbourne began on Thursday with the last career appearance of wheelchair tennis champion Dylan Alcott, who lost his final. On Friday afternoon (local time) they continue with a pair in the mixed final; then a doubles final with four Australians playing for the title, Matt Ebden and Max Purcell against Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios, and most notably the hoped-for coronation celebrations for Ashleigh Barty.

In an almost eerily calm way that brooked no contradiction, the number one landed in the final of the Australian Open for the first time by beating Madison Keys (6: 1, 6: 3). This is the end of a long, long wait.

The last Australian winner at the home tournament was Chris O’Neil in ’78, the last finalist was Wendy Turnbull two years later, and after that the sports-mad hosts had only one hope of a singles title when Lleyton Hewitt defeated Marat Safin in the 2005 final played. He lost in four sets but remembers the day well; after the game he proposed to his girlfriend Bec Cartwright in a hotel suite. The marriage produced three children, and 13-year-old son Cruz is just as crazy about tennis as his father, but that’s by the way.

Ashleigh Barty has been number one in women’s tennis for almost two and a half years, winning the clay court title at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris in 2019 and on the Wimbledon grass last year, and she’s just too good not to win in Melbourne. But the home games are often tough. The expectations of the fans combined with your own dream of winning the title at home – this is a heavy backpack that can drag you down.

A special responsibility

Samantha Stosur, the last Australian Grand Slam winner (US Open 2011) before Barty, never got past the round of 16 in Melbourne and you could often sense how much she suffered under the sense of responsibility. Barty hasn’t looked as confident in Melbourne as elsewhere in recent years.

This time, however, she circled the tournament with a clear view and spread wings like an eagle. Under dark gray clouds and with evening temperatures around 30 degrees, she didn’t give Madison Keys a chance from start to finish; she dominated what felt like 60 of the 62 minutes of the game.

The Australians could not have come up with the whole story better for the anniversary. Women have been playing for titles at this tournament for 100 years. The first winner was Margaret Molesworth, and her likeness appears on the specially minted silver coin that will be tossed before the game this year to decide sides and serve. Mrs. Molesworth was 27 at the first final and 39 at the third and last, and she lived long enough to get hordes of schoolchildren excited about the game.

However, the dominant figure in the early years was Daphne Akhurst, after whom the trophy for the winner is named. “My friend Daphne”, as the Dane Caroline Wozniacki affectionately called the trophy after her victory four years ago. For decades the Australians were mostly to themselves at their home tournament and until 1979 the final ceremony was held in English only, with the other winners coming from either the United States or Great Britain.

The Czech Hana Mandlikova brought variety into the game in 1980, followed eight years later by a certain Stefanie Graf. She was the first to win at the new Rod Laver Arena, in a final against Chris Evert that started with the roof open and closed after a shower. Margaret Court (eleven) won the most titles, Serena Williams (seven) the most when she was a professional tennis player, the youngest winner was Martina Hingis in 1997 at the age of 16 years and three months.

Ashleigh Barty is 25, American Danielle Collins, against whom she will play for the title on Saturday, is three years older. She surprisingly reached the semifinals in Melbourne three years ago, this time she went one step further and played almost as dominantly as Barty against Keys in the win against Iga Swiatek from Poland (6:4, 6:1).

Madison Keys describes what Collins can expect in the game for the title: “Ashleigh serves extremely well, her slice is much flatter and longer than before, then you try to play her forehand and she pushes you out of the field . She also seems to be at peace and focused. I’ve played against her many times, but she’s never been as good as she is at the moment.”

But Danielle Collins also seems to be in pretty good shape if Iga Swiatek is to be believed. After the defeat against the American, she said: “I was prepared for her to play aggressively, but I don’t think anyone has ever played balls that fast against me in a match. I’m very excited to see what the final will look like. I will definitely watch and learn something.”