Barty, Collins clash in Australian Open final

ELBOURNE, Australia: Ash Barty was the crowd favorite at Melbourne Park long before she ended a 42-year drought by reaching the Australian Open final.

Danielle Collins said it’ll be “spectacular” to take on the women’s No. 1-ranked player in the final of her home Grand Slam event on Saturday.

The 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 following her 6-4, 6-1 semifinal win over seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek.

Barty beat Madison Keys 6-1, 6-3 in 62 minutes in the first of the semifinals, and Collins wrapped up the night by beating 2020 French Open champion Swiatek in 78 minutes.

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 major title on clay at Roland Garros in 2019 and her second on grass at Wimbledon last year. Now that she’s become the first Australian woman into the final here since Wendy Turnbull in 1980, Barty has a good chance to claim her first 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.

Barty lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin in 2020 the last time she reached the Australian Open semifinals.

Barty hit 20 winners to only eight for Keys, who was playing in the Australian Open semifinals for the first time since 2015. She lost that year to eventual champion Serena Williams, who was the last No. 1 seed to win the women’s title at Melbourne Park.

Barty converted four of her six breakpoint opportunities and saved the only two break points she faced on her serve against the 2017 US Open champion runner-up. In six matches so far at the tournament, she has dropped one service game.

The 27th-seeded Collins relies on a power game and imposes a relentless energy on every contest.

Her forehand crosscourt winner to set up her first match points was typical of her semifinal form. She hit 27 winners and had only 13 unforced errors. She opened each set with a break of serve and raced to 4-0 leads both times.