Home hope Ashleigh Barty claims a first Australian Open

Ashleigh Barty brilliantly fulfilled her country's expectations by defeating Danielle Collins to become the first home player for 44 years to win an Australian Open singles title.

The world number one recovered from 5-1 down in the second set to clinch a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) victory over first-time grand slam finalist Collins and claim her third grand slam title.

She ends the long reign of 1978 champion Chris O’Neil as the last home winner of the women’s or men’s singles and, by maintaining her perfect record in slam finals, becomes the only active player other than Serena Williams to have won major titles on three different surfaces.

Having shrugged off the pressure to breeze through to the final, Barty had to use all her competitive instincts to overcome 30th-ranked American Collins, who brought the best out of her opponent in a terrific second set.

Barty now just needs the US Open to complete a career Grand Slam having won the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon last summer.

Organisers were permitted to increase ticket sales to 80% of capacity and it was a terrific roar that greeted the arrival of Barty on court.

The world number one understandably looked nervous while Collins settled reasonably well and immediately sought to pounce on Barty’s second serve.

At 2-2, the home favourite found herself staring at a break point but whipped a forehand winner to save it and from there Barty, and the tense crowd, relaxed into the occasion.

A wild double fault from Collins on break point in the next game gave Barty the advantage, and the top seed was untroubled through the rest of the first set.

The 25-year-old’s serve is the foundation of her game, and she had been broken just once in six matches, but that became twice in the second game of the