Ashleigh Barty Attends Women’s Singles Final in Australia


MELBOURNE, Australia – It’s all about choices, this game of tennis and this game of life.

Regular or cross-court? Rip or chips? Stay at home or hit the road in search of points and glory?

The coronavirus pandemic, which has broken old patterns and created new problems, has made some choices more complicated, but Ashleigh Barty is in a hot streak, as anyone who’s played her at the Australian Open can confirm.

Madison Keys swung last and came back empty-handed as Barty continued to fire shots and tactical slides that Keys couldn’t handle. Barty won the first set of the semifinals at 26 minutes Thursday night, winning the game 6-1, 6-3 in just over an hour.

She became the first Australian to reach the women’s singles final at the Australian Open since Wendy Turnbull in 1980.

“Honestly, it’s unrealistic, it’s just incredible,” Barty said. “I love this tournament. I love to come here and play in Australia. As Australians we are extremely spoiled. We are a Grand Slam country and we play at home in our backyard.”

“I now have a chance to play for a title,” he added.

She will face the winner of Thursday’s second semi-final between Danielle Collins of the USA and Iga Swiatek of Poland. But whoever Barty encounters in this final stage, he will be the favorite for the past 11 days for his composure and sensitivity under pressure.

He wasn’t close to leaving a set yet, and Keys met him at the wax after Thursday’s rout as if to say, “You’re in the area, Ash, enjoy it” with a smile on his face.

Tennis may not be as important to Australia as it once was in the days of Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong Cawley. But a Barty victory in Australia would certainly be a cultural event. The 25-year-old Brisbane is a particularly popular figure here, with his realistic personality and deep roots in the land: he is partly of Indigenous heritage.

At #1, she won her first Grand Slam singles title. 2019 French Open and next to him last year’s Wimbledonwon in a mood-altering final against Karolina Pliskova, which got complicated before winning in three sets.

But there have been no edgy matches or extended challenges so far in Melbourne, where he may be the first Australian to win a singles title since Chris O’Neil in 1978.

O’Neil was out of the top 100 and was one of the biggest surprise Grand Slam champions in tennis history. Barty is in a very different position as the player who is at the top of the game and is the center of attention in his country whenever he plays.

But after he chose to cut his season short in 2021 and return to Australia to recuperate after the US Open where he was. upset in the third roundstarted the 2022 season fresh, focused and on target. He’s only lost 21 games out of six and strikes a fine balance between finesse and power.

The next challenge: the first Australian Open singles final in prime-time at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night. Is it ready?

“Absolutely,” he said after steam-rolling the seedless Keys. “Let’s do this.”



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