MELBOURNE, Australia – Ash Barty was the crowd favorite at Melbourne Park long before she ended a 42-year drought for the host nation by reaching the Australian Open women’s singles final.
Danielle Collins said it will be “spectacular” to take on the WTA’s No. 1-ranked player Saturday, when Barty will try to give the home fans an even bigger reason to celebrate.
Collins, a 28-year-old American, got a little taste of what to expect in her first Grand Slam final as she left the court on Thursday after a 6-4, 6-1 semifinal win over seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek.
Barty beat Madison Keys 6-1, 6-3 in 62 minutes in the earlier semifinal, and 27th-seeded Collins wrapped up the night by with a 78-minute victory against No. 7 Swiatek, the 20-year-old from Poland who won the 2020 French Open for her lone major title.
Predictably, there were boos after Collins finished her on-court TV interview. Not too loud or long, but an indication of things to come nonetheless.
Barty won her first Grand Slam title on clay at the 2019 French Open and her second on grass at Wimbledon last year. Now the first Australian to reach the women’s singles final at this tournament since Wendy Turnbull in 1980, Barty has a good chance to check off her first major championship on a hard court.
She’s only too aware, though, that no Australian woman since Chris O’Neil in 1978 has won the singles title here.
“As an Aussie, we’re exceptionally spoiled we get to play in our own backyard,” the 25-year-old Barty said. “Now we have a chance to play for a title. It’s unreal.”
The last time Barty reached the semifinals in Melbourne, two years ago, she lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin of the United States. She said she has learned from that kind of pressure as much as winning other Grand Slams.
“Absolutely embrace it,” she said. “You have to. It’s fun. It’s brilliant to be playing in the business end of your home Slam. I’m not going to lie about that – it’s amazing.”
Keys, a 26-year-old American whose best Grand Slam showing is a runner-up finish at the 2017 U.S. Open, is just the latest in a line of rivals to explain how she had few answers to Barty’s slicing backhand and wide variety of serves.
Barty hit 20 winners to eight for Keys, who was in the Australian Open semifinals for the second time, seven years after losing to eventual champion Serena Williams – the most recent No. 1 seed to win the women’s title here.
Barty converted four of her six break-point opportunities and saved the only two break points she faced. In six matches so far at the tournament, she has dropped one service game.
AP photo by Hamish Blair / Danielle Collins celebrates after winning a point against Iga Swiatek during their Australian Open semifinal Thursday.Collins relies on a power game and imposes a relentless energy on every contest. Her forehand cross-court winner to set up her first match points was typical of her semifinal form. She hit 27 winners and had only 13 unforced errors against Swiatek, opening each set with a break of serve and racing to 4-0 leads both times.
Collins delayed her professional career by playing at the University of Virginia, where she won the NCAA women’s singles title twice, and said it gave her a good grounding in handling what she calls “adverse” crowds.
Playing in empty stadiums during the COVID-19 pandemic has given her an appreciation of having spectators in the stands, no matter who they’re cheering for. The venue was limited to two-thirds capacity Thursday, with the state government allowing an increase from the earlier 50% restriction on ticketed courts late this week as part of the easing of rules in place for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That’s something that I really thrive in, whether I have a full crowd going for me or whether I have the opposite,” Collins said. “I really just love the energy. I’m just really excited to go out there and compete.
“I realize that there is going to be a lot of people supporting Ash. It’s all in good spirit.”
Collins’ run to the 2019 semifinals was her best previous result at a Grand Slam tournament. After undergoing surgery last year to treat endometriosis, she’s in less pain and said she’s in better shape to win.
Keys was on a career-best 10-match winning streak ahead of the semifinals, including a championship run in a tuneup event in Adelaide – her first WTA tournament title since 2019. Her full tally of 11 match wins this month already equals her total for 2021, when she dropped into the 50s in the rankings. She’s expected to return to the top 30 next week.