Australian Ashleigh Barty, 25, has already won titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and has been leading the women’s rankings for 112 weeks. On Saturday, at 5:30 am (GMT), she will be able to write another remarkable chapter of her tennis trajectory in the Australian Open final. ESPN broadcasts the game.
A favorite of bookmakers since the beginning of the Grand Slam in Melbourne, Barty will face the American Danielle Collins, 28, after having made an impeccable trajectory in the tournament.
Over six games won with ease, she conceded only 21 games to her opponents, an average of 3.5 per confrontation. This Thursday, the victim was American Madison Keys, who was also undefeated in the year, but was defeated by 6/1 and 6/3.
With her varied striking game, Barty is aiming to be the first local tennis player to win the Australian Grand Slam since Chris O’Neil in 1978. Until this week, she had reached the semifinals once (2020) and twice in the quarterfinals (2019). and 2021).
The expectation of fans in Melbourne is huge, even more so with the dominant performances of the number 1. She tries to put her feet on the ground, but wants to embrace the opportunity and admits she is anxious to end her 44-year fast.
“I’m happy to be able to play my best tennis here. I’ve had good results before, but now we have the opportunity to fight for a title. Saturday will be a new experience for me. So I go there, smile and try to do the best I can. It was an amazing January, an amazing summer for us.”
Collins, 28, entered the tournament ranked 30th and will reach at least the top 10 with a spot in the final, the best position of her career. She played tennis at the university until 2015 and came to prominence for the first time on the professional circuit when she reached the semi-finals in Australia in 2019. In 2020, she made quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
Last year, the American needed surgery to treat endometriosis and was seven weeks away from the courts. After returning, he won his first two titles on the circuit. “Now I’m able to live my best life and feel like a normal person,” he said.
“Besides the surgery, I’ve gotten a lot stronger physically over the last two years. I’ve improved my conditioning and my fitness. This has been one of the most important areas of my training and focus, and it has carried over into my tennis,” he explained.
Owner of powerful serves and punches, Collins has a game that can be intimidating, but she is also prone to making a lot of mistakes if she’s not having a good day. Fortunately for her, that was not what happened in the semifinal against the Polish Iga Swiatek, in which she went over the ninth place in the ranking and won by 6/4 and 6/1.
The history of the confrontation between the finalists points to three wins for Barty and one for Collins.
Following the women’s decision, the public will be able to see a confrontation in which the party is already guaranteed. Two all-Australian male duos will compete for the trophy.
On one side, longtime friends Thanasi Kokkinakis, 25, and Nick Kyrgios, 26. Neither of them is usually dedicated to duos, but they entered the bracket with an invitation and beat the world’s top partnerships along the way. They also won over the public with their characteristic irreverence. His opponents are fellow countrymen Matthew Ebden, 34, and Max Purcell, 23.
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