Barty claims Australian Open, ends 44-year wait for local winner

She becomes the first Australian after 44 years to win the competition.

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty ended a 44-year-old wait at the Australian Open 2022. She won the women's singles title against Danielle Collins, who was seeded 27th in the tournament.

Barty was overcome by emotion, as she became the first local winner since Chris O’Neill in 1978. It took an hour and 15 minutes for her to clinch the title in two straight sets.

The World No. 1 started off well after winning the first game of the first set. But, Collins eventually came back to win the second game. However, Barty took charge and won the set.

However, the second set looked to be in favour of Collins, as she took an early lead. It almost looked as if the match would go to the third set. But, in an epic comeback, Barty won four consecutive games to take the set to a tie-breaker. Finally, she went on to win the match 6-3, 7-6.

With this victory, the Aussie joined the legendary Serena Williams as the only active woman with three different Grand Slam titles. This was also her 15th career title. She had previously won the French Open 2019 and Wimbledon 2021.

Kyrgios-Kokkinakis win men's doubles

In the men’s doubles Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis won the Australian Open title in fine fashion. The pair was up against their compatriots Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden in an all-Australian final. The duo was also the first all-Australian pair to win the title in 25 years. Infact, the winning duo entered the draw as wildcards.

After having trailed for most of the first set, they went on to win it. In the second, both the Australian pairs attempted to put pressure on each other. However, it was the wildcards who edged past and finally won the contest. The final scoreline read 5-7,4-6.

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