Barty celebrates home triumph with Australian greats

MELBOURNE : Moments before the most important match of Ash Barty's career in Australia, she bounced about on her feet, chatting to coach Craig Tyzzer in the corridors of Melbourne Park.

The world number one looked relaxed despite the enormity of the moment ahead of her at Rod Laver Arena.

Saturday's warm-up for the Australian Open final involved playing cricket strokes. She clipped leg glances with her racquet and looked to be timing the ball sweetly.

She was preparing to end the title drought for locals at the Australian Open dating back to Chris O'Neil's triumph in 1978, yet nothing about Barty's demeanour seemed overly stressed.

It did not quite ring true on court as Danielle Collins launched a serious challenge in the second set of the contest, but ultimately Barty emerged as the champion with a 6-3 7-6(2) victory.

Since O'Neil's victory 44 years ago, the nation has won the America's Cup, multiple World Cups in cricket and rugby, dozens of Olympic gold medals, as well as titles in other sports.

However, conquering the Australian Open proved to be a challenge beyond the likes of Pat Cash, Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur, who all captured majors elsewhere but failed to deliver on home soil.

That is until Barty came along to end the drought on Saturday, proving she was a master of all surfaces considering she has also triumphed on clay at Roland Garros in 2019 and on grass at Wimbledon last year.

Her childhood coach in Queensland, Jim Joyce, challenged her to be an all-court player and his protege has delivered beyond their wildest dreams.

The U.S. Open is now the only gap in her resume, though she has won a doubles title at Flushing Meadows. Yet the Australian is still coming to grips with her status as a world leader