On Saturday night in Melbourne, No. 1-ranked Ashleigh Barty will take on Danielle Collins in the Australian Open women’s final. Barty has looked unflappable so far — can she become the first Australian to win her home Slam in 44 years? Or will Collins pull off the upset? We asked our experts:
Will Ash Barty win the Australian Open?
Tom Hamilton: Barty has dropped just 21 games at this tournament, and has been broken twice. She is playing unbelievable tennis, and with having been world No. 1 for 112 weeks, this is her championship to lose. Although the thoughts of the 44-year wait and the subsequent pressure will inevitably sprinkle through her mind over the next 24 hours, she has the mentality and astonishing ability to close this tournament out.
Luke Jensen: Barty is an elite tennis talent at the top of her superpowers! A complete player from the mental, physical and tactical areas of the game. Mentally, Barty handles the pressure with a mature perspective that helps her maintain a relaxed relationship with the pressures of the moment. Physically, Barty can play the game she needs to control the exchanges that is modern professional power tennis. She has the ability to switch speeds from offense to defending any power shot that comes from the other side of the net, and then go from defending to offense with one swing. Tactically, with so many shots in her game, Barty seems to play the right shot at the right time, always having an answer for a move from her opponent.
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Aish Kumar: Yes, at this point, I am certain that Ash Barty will win the title. What’s impressive is her path to the final. It’s almost like her three-set loss to Shelby Rogers in the third round of the US Open last year woke her up, and she decided she won’t give up a single set in the next major she plays. She has dominated every match in the tournament, winning not just in straight sets, but never even letting it get to the tiebreaker. She’s on a roll, and more importantly, she’s not tired from having played long matches. She’s in the best position possible to win her first Australian Open — and what a story that will be for the 25-year-old world No. 1.
D’Arcy Maine: Please mark this response down as an emphatic yes. Other Australians have made the singles final during this multi-decade drought and didn’t finish the job, …….
