Barty and the Special Ks triumph at the Australian Open

'Her destiny is fulfilled' said the TV tennis commentator as Barty wiped out her final opponent to win the first Australian Open women's singles title by an Australian after a 44 year drought.

The 2022 Finals seemed by far the hardest fought and sweetest victory of all in the whole tournament for Ash Barty.

She was in total control of all her previous games before the Final.

There she also won the first set against the American Collins.

But when Collins raced to a 5:1 lead in the second set, it looked like Barty had no chance of winning that set. But she had different ideas.

It required a superbly consummate player, like Barty, to dig herself out from such a deep hole. Yet she came back from 5:1 down in the set to equalise, forcing a tie break. She then cruised through it to win the Australian Open.

So it is not only that Barty has been number one in women's singles in the world for nearly two years, she now has a trifecta of Grand Slam victories to her name too.

The French Open was the first, followed by her Wimbledon victory.

Through her triumph at Wimbledon last year Barty was able to fulfil her childhood dream to match Evonne Goolagong's Cawley's precedence 50 years earlier and claim the English crown once again by an Australian Aborigine.

She dedicated her Wimbledon victory to her mentor and friend Evonne Goolagong.

And Goolagong now returned her compliment in person when to Barty's surprise she was selected to present Barty with her Australian Open trophy.

At the Australian Open, Barty was exposed to three great pressures – being the world number one, a dual grand slam champion, and playing in front of her home audience expecting her to break the 44 years drought in winning the Australian Open by an Aussie.