All roads led to Ashleigh Barty, but the lace was missing. And she arrived. The 25-year-old Australian put the tie (6-3, 7-6(2) on Danielle Collins, in 1h 27m) to the great work of art that she has signed during these two weeks in Melbourne, where she has once again stood out as a masterful competitor and, above all, an exceptional tennis player. In the strictest sense of the word. In the midst of a current that prioritizes power and speed, the game of a single direction, she stands out with an intelligent, creative proposal without corsets. She is different, she is not the tallest, the most spectacular or the one that hits the ball the hardest; however, she commands space-time conjunction and point control like no other. Australia, finally, sighs and beats her great player.
Ever since Chris O’Neil triumphed in the 1978 edition, the host country had resisted the women’s title. 44 years is a long time, and more for a nation in which tennis is so important and its players have reported so much success. There is the legendary Margaret Court –24 majors and 11 local titles–, as well as other champions like Evone Goolagong, Kerry Melville and O’Neil herself, the last winner at home. Almost half a century was a long time, so there was some anxiety. All eyes were on Barty. She charged her number one in the last three rounds, staying twice in the quarters and once in the semifinals. But this time she did not fail. For a while, Collins tilted the final, but her swerve was extraordinary.
The American threatened to get up, 5-1 up in the second set, but the champion’s reaction was furious, in her style, stitch by stitch. Barty does not have a grandiose profile, but he does have the most exquisite game of all. No one possesses his slice backhand, his master tool, nor is another player capable of processing the rally with such insight or with such a wide range of responses. Chameleonic, it adapts to all surfaces and all kinds of situations. On this occasion she coolly undid the knot and crowned herself in front of her fans, rounding off a fabulous month: before the Open she raised the Adelaide trophy, and then the tour of Melbourne. Full. Only Collins was able to argue with him. The rest, no tickles.
The Australian completed her work without giving up a single set, only 30 games and serving only twice. She snatched it from the American in the final, but the debate did not go any further. Barty, born in the Queensland region (Ipswich), in the northeast of the country, won her third Grand Slam and her record already reflects victories of all colors: the reddish color of the clay (Roland Garros 2019), the green of the London grass ( Wimbledon 2021) and the turquoise of Melbourne cement. In this way, she is the only active player next to the American Serena Williams who has left traces in all fields, affecting the variety of her records. Her palette is full of nuances. If the game has to be chewed more, she does it that way, and if the situation demands the direct route, she does not lack acceleration.
Multi-surface and the challenge of the Grand Slam
His name already shines alongside that of other figures who during the Open Era (from 1968) reached the top of three different layers: Chris Evert, Hana Mandlikova, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Maria Sharapova, Williams herself. Big words. She now has the challenge ahead of her to win the Grand Slam of poker, win the four majors. Something at the height of very few. Only 10 made it. The last was Russia’s Sharapova, when she soared at Roland Garros in 2012 and completed the bouquet.
“He has great defense, the best attack. It is good on both fast and slow tracks. If I had to bet money that someone is capable of doing it, I would have no doubt: I would do it for Barty”, pointed out Evert, winner of 18 majors, during the broadcast of the Eurosport channel.
On the way to it, Barty is only missing the US Open. She projects herself and continues to exalt the best tennis, and she does so in the current wavering era of women’s tennis. In the midst of an endless dance, with different champions every week and shooting stars that come and go, the Australian is the only certainty. In the midst of this unpredictable swing, she dominates with a firm step: she accumulates 110 weeks as number one, 103 of them consecutively, and since she took over the helm in September 2019 she has definitely taken over the circuit. They are three majors in the last four years, a Masters Cup (2019), three times at the top of the ranking at the end of the course.
There are many reasons that support the theory that the Australian, about to abandon the racket – she made a long parenthesis between 2014 and 2016, and dedicated herself to playing cricket – can enter the list of the most relevant players in history . For now, she ended the drought. 44 years later, Australia is once again the champion. But the party did not end there. There was more music and a second trophy.
The ‘Special K’ win the doubles
The thug duo of Nick Kyrgios and Tanashi Kokkinakis clinched the final victory in the doubles category by beating compatriots Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell 7-5, 6-4. Invited by the organization, both turned Melbourne Park upside down during these days and this Saturday’s event was no exception.
Cheered with boos instead of palms, the nicknamed Special K —like a brand of cereal— rounded off the festive day of local tennis; excessive in some cases, as several spectators were expelled for inappropriate behavior. Kyrgios (26 years old) and Kokkinakis (25) curiously faced each other in the 2013 junior final, favoring the former. His talent, however, has not been accompanied by success on the professional circuit.
To find the last local triumph of a men’s doubles pair, you have to go back to 1997. Then, Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, the Woodies, beat Sébastian Laureau and Alex O’Brien. Now they handed over the trophy to their successors.
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