How Ash Barty recovered from 5-1 down in second set to claim Australian Open final

It’s the photo of a future Grand Slam and Australian Open champion which has gone around the world more than once. Now Ash Barty has revealed the advice she’d give her younger self.

Ash Barty doesn’t like to look up to her players’ box too often. Unlike most of her counterparts, she doesn’t use it as a source of inspiration.

But as the Australian Open final started to swing dramatically out of control, Barty searched for the eyes of her coach Craig Tyzzer.

When they met she made a gesture with the ball which was in her hand. It was subtle and no one else in Rod Laver Arena would have understood it, but for Tyzzer it said a lot.

“She gave me a signal that it was a bit spongy, like the balls were a bit softer, so she was struggling to get any sort of shape on the balls,” Tyzzer explains.

“I think she was trying to do the wrong thing with the ball, trying to hit with a bit more shape.”

In their six years together one of the key things Tyzzer had taught his charge was to be able to problem solve on the court. Not wait until a post-match debrief to figure out what went wrong, if she wanted to be one of the best players in the world she needed to be able to access situations during matches and act accordingly.

The assessment of most watching the second set was that Barty was in serious trouble. She was 1-5 down after having her serve – which had been broken once for the entire tournament – torn apart twice in 10 minutes by an inspired Danielle Collins.

Ash Barty lets out a tournament worth of emotion after winning the Australian Open final. Picture: Mark Stewart

Coming into the match, she had spoken at length with Tyzzer about the danger Collins presented. She had a big power game, was one of the best returners in the draw and if she was allowed to control the middle of the court then it spelt trouble.

The American had seemed subdued in the opening set. While Barty had been more nervous than normal and had felt the day dragged a bit, the comfort of centre court had helped her settle quicker than her opponent.

She’d stuck to the process. Her serve, which had been massive all tournament, was working, the sliced backhand which had become her main weapon was keeping Collins back over the baseline, which is what she’d planned.

In a tick over half-an-hour she had the first set done 6-3 and was happy with how things were progressing.

But then she sensed a change in Collins.

The 27th seed had started to show more emotion and was becoming agitated with the crowd, who were understandably all chips in with the local hero.

The problem was she was feeding off it. Suddenly the dynamics on the court had changed, she was the one dominating territory and, for the first time for the tournament, Barty was on the back foot.

Enter the problem solver.

Danielle Collins feeds off the energy of the pre-Barty crowd. Picture: Aaron Francis / AFP

Tyzzer knew Barty had to change the way she was hitting the ball, but the problem was he couldn’t jump the fence and relay the message. He had to rely on Barty sorting it out and figured it would be happening in a third set.

Then he noticed something happen with her backhand and a smile came onto his face.

“She started to hit through the back of the ball and went a bit flatter and actually came over a few more backhands,” he said. “I actually was prepared for a third set, but then she started to feel better.”

For Barty, she’d lost something on her serve which was frustrating as she was giving Collins too many looks at second serves.

“I felt like all fortnight long I’d done a pretty job of nullifying half-chances from my opponents and being able to really serve well when I needed it most,” Barty said.

“I probably didn’t serve my best and against one of the best returners on the globe, it’s hard to be able to be on the back foot all the time.”

Ash Barty in action against Danielle Collins during the women’s singles final. Picture: Mark Stewart

Plan B was activated and, as her coach was thinking, it was more centred around changing the flow of the match before the start of the third set.

The first thing was she had to ramp up the aggression. Collins was in her face and feeding off the pro-Aussie crowd. That had to stop.

“When I was able to be more aggressive, that was a change, and I was able to dominate with my forehand a bit more,” Barty explains.

“I just found a lot more forehands and tried to work harder with my feet and take half-chances and create forehands even if they probably weren‘t there.

“I wasn’t too concerned if I was going to miss them. It was more trying to change the look of the match than the outcome of the individual points.”

It worked.

Almost in the blink of an eye she broke Collins’ serve and then started to think about her secret weapon … the 13,000 fans inside Rod Laver Arena.

“It was important for me to try and stay in touch, and I knew that the crowd would love it if I could stay close and get involved.

“It was incredible to be able to really, in a way, from 5-1 down turn nothing into something and be able to get some real momentum throughout that set.”

It was like a tidal wave by the time the match entered the second set tie-break. Barty knew it and, more importantly, so did Collins.

“She started to push me back in the court a little bit more,” Collins said. “She definitely, you know, came up with some great shots in some of those big moments, especially with her serving and pushing me back in the court.”

When match point was sealed by a brilliant crosscourt forehand, Barty let out a gut-wrenching roar which even surprised herself. She’d kept her emotions in for the entire fortnight and couldn’t control them anymore.

She’d just made history, won her home grand slam, exorcised the demons of past failures and broke a 44-year drought of Aussie winners. She needed a hug.

Climbing the stands like Pat Cash famously did to get to her entourage wasn’t Barty’s style, instead she made an immediate beeline to her best friend and former doubles partner Casey Dellacqua, who was working courtside for Channel 9.

She’d deliberately not looked at her during the match, but it was time to share this special moment with someone who had been on her wild journey.

“I wanted to give someone a hug. I kind of didn’t want to go to everyone. I thought, ‘There’s Case, there’s my hug’, and she gives a good hug.”

Ash Barty embraces surprise guest Evonne Goolagong Cawley. Picture: Michael Klein

The next hug she didn’t expect.

As Barty stood smiling at the presentations waiting to get her hands on the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, host Todd Woodbridge paused and informed the crowd that a special guest would be joining them.

Barty still has no idea what was happening. Then, as the spotlight shone on the entrance to the court, she saw her hero Evonne Goolagong Cawley emerging.

Tennis Australia had secretly flown the four-time champion down from Queensland earlier in the day. Barty’s coach and manager knew, but they’d kept it a secret from her.

“Not knowing about Evonne was probably a blessing because I think if I had known I would have been distracted because I love her as a person,” Barty says.

“It would have nothing to do with my tennis performance or wanting to perform for her. I just would have been distracted personally that she was here.”

There was a tear in both of their eyes and an hour later it got even better when Barty posed for a photo with Goolagong Cawley and Cathy Freeman, the Sydney Olympic champion who she also worshipped and has become an important mentor in recent times.

Shortly after at her press conference, the famous photo of her as a six-year-old with her first trophy which had gone viral on social media was brought up. The new Australian Open champion was asked what words of advice she would have for that kid today.

“Be patient, have fun and trust your gut every day of the week.”

She’d just trusted her gut in the biggest match of her life, and because of it she now had a special trophy sitting right next to her.