Ashleigh Barty defeats Danielle Collins to end 44-year wait for home Australian Open champion

Ashleigh Barty became the first Australian woman to win the Australian Open since Chris O'Neil in 1978 after defeating Danielle Collins in straight sets in the final on Saturday.

The American challenged Barty like no other player could in the tournament. After dropping the first set, she raced to a 5-1 lead in the second, but faltered at crucial moments, allowing Barty back into the contest. The Australian then powered her way through the tie-break to seal her third Grand Slam singles title.

Ashleigh Barty vs Danielle Collins score

Ashleigh Barty beat Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6(2).

Ashleigh Barty vs Danielle Collins winner

Barty defeated Collins in straight sets to win her maiden Australian Open title and third Grand Slam singles crown. The 25-year-old ended Australia's 44-year wait for a homegrown champion.

Ashleigh Barty vs Danielle Collins recap

Both players held serve in the first four games of the opening set. Collins earned a breakpoint in the fifth game, but was unable to convert. Barty then broke the American's serve to go 4-2 up and maintained her advantage to take the first set 6-3.

Collins started the second set brilliantly by breaking the World No. 1 in the second game. The American pressured Barty with powerful groundstrokes and broke again to go 5-1 up, silencing the Rod Laver crowd.

However, Collins' game began to fall apart and she was broken twice while serving for the set, allowing Barty to level the proceedings at 5-5.

Collins steadied the ship by holding serve to go 6-5 up but Barty did the same to take the second set to a tie-break, where she raced to a 4-0 lead. Collins ran out of steam and Barty sealed the win with a brilliant forehand winner.

With the win, the Australian underlined her dominance of the women's circuit.