By Sudipto Ganguly

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Australia finally got a winner at its 44-year-old Australian Open. Ash Barty defeated a American fightback by Danielle Collins and won 6-3 7-6(2) on Saturday to win her third Grand Slam title.

Barty was the first Australian woman to win this event since Chris O’Neil won it in 1978.

O’Neil was cheering from the stands as O’Neil converted Barty’s first match point by winning a forehand Crosscourt.

Collins set up the break point with some strong grounstrokes, but Barty was calm and composed. She found the range with her service to escape trouble. Then she broke when her opponent gave up a double error.

Collins broke early in the second set due to Barty’s uncharacteristic forehand mistakes. Collins will be making her Top-10 debut on Monday when the rankings are updated. The American exclaimed “Come On!” to celebrate the opening of a 3-0 lead.

Barty’s delivery looked nearly impossible this past fortnight and was broken by the American. It happened a second consecutive time during the set. Collins looked to be poised for a match, serving at 5-1. However, Collins showed steel nerves and upped her game.

Barty won the set on serve, and then led the tiebreak. This was a great comeback that made Australia happy.