Ashleigh Barty and Danielle Collins Will Meet in Australian Open Final

She will face Danielle Collins of the United States, who defeated Iga Swiatek of Poland, 6-4, 6-1, in the second women’s semifinal. Barty will be the favorite based on her cool and precision under pressure over the last 11 days. Barty said she intended to embrace the opportunity rather than try to block out its significance.

“You have to,” Barty said. “It’s fun. It’s brilliant to be playing in the business end of your home slam. I’m not going to lie about that. It’s amazing. I think being able to experience it multiple times has been incredible, but Saturday’s going to be a new experience for me. So I go out there and embrace it, smile, try and do the best that I can and whatever happens, happens.”

Collins is one of the most ferocious competitors in women’s tennis and has been serving and returning particularly well down the stretch in Melbourne. She won 86 percent of the points against Swiatek’s second serve on Thursday.

“She loves to get in your face and loves to really take it on,” Barty said.

Barty leads their head-to-head series 3-1, but Collins won their most recent match in straight sets in Adelaide, Australia, last year, and has also pushed her to three sets in two of their other matches.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/27/sports/tennis/barty-collins-australian-open.html