In the Australian Open 2022 women’s singles final, Ash Barty faced her toughest test of the tournament against Danielle Collins.
The world No.1 had cruised through her first six matches, arriving in the final having dropped just 21 games collectively.
But after taking the opening set in Saturday night’s final, Barty found herself down 5-1 in the second set – the furthest any player had pushed her in any set so far during the fortnight.
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The gritty, power-hitting American looked destined to push the final to a deciding set, but it was at this point Barty stepped up.
Her improvement was especially notable on serve.
In the first six games of the second set, Barty was landing just 47 per cent of her first serves – a ratio far too low to succeed against a ruthless returner like Collins.
But from 5-1 down through the remainder of the set – during which she worked her way back to 5-5, before winning the ensuing tiebreak – Barty landed 68 per cent of her first serves.
She also drastically improved her winning percentage on second serves in the same span, from 25 per cent in the first six games, to 57 per cent from 5-1 down onward.
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While her serve helped her wrest control of the second set, she also enjoyed success on the forehand.
She visibly loosened up and committed more to the shot from 5-1 down, and it was reflected in the data – she increased her average speed on that wing from 120km/h (first six games) to 123km/h (from 5-1 onward).
Barty’s serve and forehand had been her potent, point-ending weapons all fortnight at Melbourne Park.
And those shots again rose to the occasion on Saturday night as she stormed to the title, becoming the first local-born Australian Open singles champion in 44 years.