Danielle Collins Falls to No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in Australian Open Final

Collins lost to Barty 3-6, 6-7 to bring her incredible run to her first Grand Slam final to an end

Author:
Matt Newton
Updated:
Jan 29, 2022 6:20 AM EST
Original:
Jan 29, 2022

Danielle Collins' incredible run at the Australian Open has come to an end.

In what was essentially an away match against the No. 1 women's singles player in the world, Collins fell 3-6, 6-7 to Ashleigh Barty, who became the first Australian to win the Australian Open since Chris O'Neil in 1978.

Barty had been dominant throughout the entire tournament, as her closest margin of victory in a single set was a 6-4 win in the first set of the fourth round. After the first set, it seemed Collins would face a similar fate as Barty broke Collins in the sixth game and cruised to a 6-3 win in the opening set. Barty appeared to be in total control and the packed and rowdy crowd at Rod Laver Arena was completely behind the Australian native.

Instead, Collins, who was making her first-ever appearance in a Grand Slam final, gave Barty everything she could handle in the second set.

Coming into the match, Barty had been broken in just one service game in the entire Australian Open tournament. In the second set, Collins broke Barty's serve twice and opened up a 5-1 lead.

Collins' response stunned the Aussie crowd into silence, as it appeared that the American was on her way to forcing a deciding third set. For the time being, the impending nationwide party for the first home winner of the Australian Open in 44 years would have to wait for a third set.

Then, Ashleigh Barty said, "not so fast."

With Collins serving for the set, Barty picked up a couple of forehand winners and a couple of errors by Collins led to a break. Barty held serve in the next game to make it 5-3 and Collins served again for the set.

Powered by the crowd, which erupted with every point by the home favorite, Barty showed why she is the top-ranked women's tennis player in the world, breaking Collins' serve again.

Barty then held serve, polishing off the next game with an ace and suddenly, all of the pressure shifted back to the underdog Collins, who found herself up against the wall as she watched her four-game lead disappear.

With the set now tied at five games apiece, Collins did well to settle herself and held serve in the next game, dropping just one point in the process. Collins then jumped out to a 15-30 lead in the next game on Barty's serve and was once again just two points away from living to see another set.

Instead, Barty won three points in a row to make it 6-6 and send the second set to a tiebreaker.

Barty had all of the momentum at that point and it showed immediately. The Australian won the first four points of the tiebreaker. Collins won a couple of points but a pair unforced errors set Barty up with four championship points.

Ashleigh Barty only needed one, finishing Collins off with a forehand winner to clinch the match and the Australian Open title.

Watch: Danielle Collins Australian Open full runner-up speech

Collins' performance against Barty in the final was impressive, as she had the No. 1 player in the world on the ropes for a moment in the second set, but Collins' journey to this point has been even more remarkable.

Collins took the unusual route to professional tennis, first playing a full collegiate career and earning a degree from the University of Virginia. While at UVA, she won two NCAA singles titles in 2014 and 2016. When Collins defeated No. 7 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, she became the first woman ever to win an NCAA singles title and reach a Grand Slam final.

After her run to the Australian Open final, Collins is expected to rise into the top 10 of the WTA singles rankings. If that is the case, Collins will be the only American, male or female, ranked in the top 10 tennis players in the world.

Congratulations on an outstanding run at the Australian Open, Danielle Collins.

Read more from Cavaliers Now