Danielle Collins plotting Ash Barty's downfall in Australian Open final

Danielle Collins says practice sessions with a ball machine when she was a child may help her devise the tactics she hopes will deny Ash Barty an Australian Open title.

After Barty stormed into the women's final at Melbourne Park with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Madison Keys on Thursday night, Collins was equally impressive in eliminating seventh seed Iga Świątek of Poland, 6-4, 6-1.

It will be 27th-seeded Collins's first appearance in the final of a major championship.

Barty is chasing her third major, while she is also bidding to become the first local to win the Australian Open women's title in 44 years.

Collins has spoken about her admiration of Barty's game, highlighting her variety and use of the slice backhand.

She is not intimidated by Barty's approach, as she believed practicing on public courts in Florida as a child and during her professional career would help her combat the world number one's strategy.

«I think over the course of my career I have done a pretty good job of practicing against people who have variety in their game,» Collins said after Thursday night's semifinal win.

«I try to play with people that throw different shots at me that maybe I don't get all the time, just so that I'm constantly working on it and trying to get better at it.

»I played against a lot of people in the park (public courts) that liked the slice backhand, a lot of people that have a one-handed backhand  — which Ash doesn't really have — but who use the one-handed slice.

«In my off-season, that (practicing on public courts) was what I was doing every day. I was playing at the public park close to my house, and most of the days I was on the court with my boyfriend and we were hitting on the ball machine.

»That can throw some different variety