Ash Barty will plot a path to victory over Danielle Collins in the Australian Open final with the coach she describes as "a magician" and "a massive part of my life".
Australian home hero Barty has been a hot favourite for the title since before the first ball was struck in Melbourne, and to date she has justified all the hype and expectation.
Barty has dropped only 21 games across six matches to reach the final. Since 2000, only Serena Williams (16 games at the 2013 US Open and 19 at the 2012 US Open) and Venus Williams (20 games at Wimbledon in 2009) have lost fewer games to reach a grand slam final.
The last player to lose fewer games en route to the final in Australia was Monica Seles in 1993 (20 games), and she went on to beat Steffi Graf in a title match that went to three sets.
This is the level Barty is at now, as an established world number one and reigning Wimbledon champion, and a Collins victory on Saturday would be a major upset.
Yet Barty sees the 28-year-old American as a major threat, and the evidence of Collins' destructive performance against seventh seed Iga Swiatek in Thursday's second semi-final attests to that.
Collins won 6-4 6-1 and hit 27 winners and only 13 unforced errors, securing a place in her first slam final.
"She's an exceptional ball striker," said Barty. "She's someone who stands on the baseline and can hit all spots of the court from any position. I think the challenge is going to be trying to get her off balance.
"We'll do our homework and try to figure out a plan, and come Saturday try and execute. Danielle's done incredibly well here in Australia before. The way she's able to control the baseline and really take the game on, she's one of the most fierce competitors out here.
"She loves to get in your face and loves to take it on. It's going to be a challenge for me to try to neutralise as best as I can, but it's certainly nice to see her out here playing her best stuff."
Working out a strategy for the match, alongside Barty, will be veteran coach Craig Tyzzer. Barty trusts him implicitly to get the plan right.
"'Tyzze' is a magician; he's able to look at a lot of different matches, look at key matches, some recent and some old, and work our plan out in looking at different conditions and things like that," Barty said in a news conference after her thumping 6-1 6-3 semi-final win against Madison Keys.
"He's the man that does all the work. I just get to go out there and have fun with it."
Barty is understating her role there, but she has turned singles into a team game, relying on the likes of Tyzzer and mindset coach Ben Crowe to steer her on the right path.
She is attempting to become the first Australian player to win this title since Chris O'Neil in 1978, so the pressure is on, and it helps that those around her help to relieve the stress.
"Everyone is equally important. We're all equal, we all play our roles," Barty said. "The most amazing thing is we all communicate really well together and get along with each other and know when it's time to back off, relax, and then when it's time to switch on and really have a crack.
"'Tyzze' has been a massive part of my life since 2016. Before that, we'd done some work together, but the work he's done in setting up an amazing group of people around us has propelled my career for both of us. The experiences we've been able to share has been remarkable.
"It starts with my family, my sisters, obviously my professional team who contribute as much time and energy into my career and help me try and live out my dreams. I cannot thank them enough for the time and effort they put in to someone else.
"Being able to enjoy it all together and lighten up when we're not focused on the match is a really important part of that."
Barty's first serve has been a huge weapon, while Collins' return of the second serve has been a significant factor behind her run. So if Barty can land enough first serves on Saturday, that could prove telling. It has helped her to save 13 of 14 break points so far in this tournament.
Giving Collins a regular look at her second serve could be costly. Collins has won more points on the return of second serve (90) than any other woman in the tournament.
Barty ranks ninth on that list but is the leader on winning points when landing a first serve, achieving an 83 per cent success rate.
Novak Djokovic advances at French Open then sends political message about Kosovo
Novak Djokovic eased into the second round of the French Open but risked inflaming political tensions in his home region with a message about Kosovo.
After a 6-3 6-2 7-6 (1) victory over American Aleksandar Kovacevic, who is of Serbian heritage, Djokovic wrote on the camera lens: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence.”
Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but Serbia has never recognised that and violence broke out in the north of the country over the weekend after ethnic Albanian mayors were installed in Serbian-dominated areas, with NATO peacekeepers among those injured.
Serbia has troops stationed near the border and there are fears of a return to the violent conflict of 1998-99.
Speaking to Serbian journalists in comments reported by the country’s media, Djokovic, whose father was born in Kosovo, said: “I am not a politician, nor do I intend to enter into debates.
“As a Serb, it hurts me what is happening in Kosovo. Our people have been expelled from the municipalities. This is the least I could do. As a public figure, I feel an obligation to show support for our people and all of Serbia.
“I hear there was a lot of criticism on social media. I don’t know if someone will punish me or something like that, but I would do it again. I am against wars and conflicts of any kind.
“Kosovo is our heart, stronghold, the centre of the most important events, the biggest battle took place there, the most monasteries. There are many reasons why I wrote this.”
The Serbia football team were fined by FIFA at the World Cup in November after a flag showing Kosovo as part of the country was displayed in their changing room.
Djokovic is, of course, no stranger to controversy and he was dragged into a row at the Australian Open in January after his father Srdjan was pictured with pro-Russia demonstrators, which he later insisted was unwitting.
On the court, there were no real alarms for the third seed, who has struggled on clay so far this season but maintained his record of not dropping a set in the opening round in Paris since 2010.
He was broken serving for the match but responded with a strong tie-break, and said: “I think I played really well and held things under control for two-and-a-half sets and then lost my serve and things got a little bit on a wrong side for me.
“But I managed to hold my nerves and played pretty much a perfect tie-break. So overall I’m pleased and content with my level.”
Djokovic could meet Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals and the top seed also impressed in a 6-0 6-2 7-5 victory over Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli, delighting a packed Suzanne Lenglen arena with some flamboyant shots.
Alcaraz won the first eight games of the match, and he said: “I felt I couldn’t lose a game. I thought that I was able to win easier than I did but a match can turn around in each game. But, at the start of the match, I felt invincible.”
Elsewhere, 10th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime’s difficulties continued as, struggling with illness, he lost in straight sets to Fabio Fognini, while another veteran, former champion Stan Wawrinka, battled past Albert Ramos-Vinolas in five sets.
The 38-year-old Swiss conducted the crowd like an orchestra at the end, and he said: “It is one of the main reasons why I keep playing. It’s to play those big tournaments like here, to have such an amazing atmosphere. I have so much support and it gives me a lot of emotion to win those matches.”
There was disappointment for former finalist Dominic Thiem, though, who remains without a grand slam victory since wrist problems two years ago after going down in five sets to Pedro Cachin.
Elina Svitolina urges tennis to focus on Ukraine support, not issues from war
Elina Svitolina urged tennis to focus on the suffering in Ukraine rather than issues the war is causing within the sport after reaching the second round of the French Open.
One of Ukraine’s highest-profile sports stars, Svitolina is playing her first grand slam since the Australian Open last year after giving birth to baby Skai in October.
She has been away from the locker room tensions caused by the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian players to continue competing and has been a prominent figure in campaigning for help for her country.
A day after Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk was booed by the Roland Garros crowd for refusing to shake hands with Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, Svitolina called for attention to stay on the bigger picture.
She said of her return to the sport: “What I found, I don’t know a nicer way to say, but a lot of rubbish is happening around the situation where we have to focus on the main point of what is going on.
“A lot of people, Ukrainian people, need help and need support. We are focusing on so many things like empty words, empty things that are not helping the situation, not helping anything.
“I want to invite everyone to focus on helping Ukrainians. To help kids, to help women who lost their husbands, because they are at the war and they are fighting for Ukraine. The kids, they’re losing their parents, they’re losing parts of their body.
“There is so many things that we can do and help in different ways. You can donate a couple of dollars, it might help and save lives. Or donate your time. We are missing the main point of all of that and talking, talking, talking about nothing.”
Svitolina came into the tournament on the back of her first title as a mother in Strasbourg and impressed in a 6-2 6-2 victory over 26th seed Martina Trevisan.
She is donating all her prize money from Strasbourg to Ukrainian children and has her own foundation that helps her homeland.
“I think war changed me in so many ways,” she said. “I think I treasure more my family, my time with my family, my time just on a daily basis.
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“I really try to understand that how lucky I am to be where I am and to have a voice, as well. Also to play in such big events, to motivate the young kids of Ukraine, to have this opportunity.
“In so many ways, I’m just grateful that my life turned like that, so that’s why right now I just want to give this little part to the people who need it the most.”
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia is the main French hope for this fortnight and she survived a scare in her opener, beating China’s Wang Xiyu 7-6 (4) 4-6 6-4.
Two top-16 seeds fell, with lucky loser Elina Avanesyan knocking out 12th seed Belinda Bencic 6-3 2-6 6-4, while former finalist Sloane Stephens beat 16th seed Karolina Pliskova 6-0 6-4.
Afterwards, Stephens was asked about the racist abuse she experiences on social media after the tournament partnered with an AI app to try to filter out offensive messages.
“It’s obviously been a problem my entire career,” said the American. “It has never stopped. If anything, it’s only gotten worse. I did hear about the software. I have not used it.
“I have a lot of key words banned on Instagram and all of these things but that doesn’t stop someone from just typing in an asterisk or typing it in a different way, which obviously software most of the time doesn’t catch.
“When there is FBI investigations going on with what people are saying to you online, it’s very serious. People online have the free rein to say and do whatever they want behind fake pages, which is obviously very troublesome.”
Cameron Norrie battles back for key win but brands umpiring call ‘absurd’
Cameron Norrie branded an umpiring call against him “absurd” and “unacceptable” after battling to a five-set victory over Benoit Paire in the first round of the French Open.
A British singles wipe-out looked to be on the cards for the second time in four editions in Paris when Norrie trailed 4-2 in the deciding set on Suzanne Lenglen but he fought back to defeat Frenchman Paire 7-5 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-4 and silence the lively home crowd.
A key moment occurred in the third game of the second set when, with Norrie serving at 30-30, umpire Nico Helwerth docked the 14th seed a point for a hindrance, claiming he had shouted out during play.
Paire went on to break serve and, although Norrie kept his protest brief on court, he made it clear in the press conference room just how unhappy he was.
“I think both of us didn’t know why he called it,” said Norrie. “I think Benoit thought it was for him, both of us were a bit confused. It was for sure a grunt. It was a big point. I don’t know why he felt it was necessary to get involved there. He gave me no warning whatsoever.
“It ultimately changed the momentum of the match. I was holding pretty comfortably, for the most part, up until that point. The next point Benoit had a winner and then I was a break down.
“It was strange. He must have thought that I said something, and I think for him to get involved there was absurd.”
Norrie cited another decision on Sunday against Dan Evans, when the British player was foot-faulted by a line judge at the far end of the court for his back foot crossing the centre line.
“I watched that and he was nowhere near foot-faulting and the guy is calling him on the other side of the net,” said Norrie.
“What are we doing here? I’m here playing tennis, competing as hard as I can, and to do that, a pretty big point. Maybe if I spoke to him now he thinks he’s wrong but, at the end of the day, I’m fighting my a**e off and one call could obviously influence the match.
“I did my best to try and not let it bother me. I’ve never been called for that before ever. I think it’s obviously unacceptable – that’s my point of view – but, if he makes a decision wrong, there’s no consequences. And, for me, if I do something wrong, there’s consequences.”
Paire, possessor of one of the best beards in sport but not one of the best temperaments, has toyed with retirement at the age of 34 and came into the event as a wild card ranked 134.
When they met in the same round at the US Open last summer, Norrie won two lightning quick sets 6-0 either side of a competitive second, with Paire packing up his bag before the match had finished.
But his attitude was very different here and he probably should have won a scrappy first set after leading by a break and having seven more break points.
Norrie has struggled for form over the past couple of months and was unable to wrest the momentum back from Paire during the second and third sets, with the crowd getting ever more involved, breaking out the Marseillaise and the Mexican wave.
The Frenchman seemed to settle for a decider after going an early break down in the fourth, and he looked on his way to victory when Norrie handed over another break to start the fifth, but the British number one was eventually rewarded for his probing.
He can expect a similar atmosphere in the next round, when he takes on a resurgent Lucas Pouille, who has been the toast of Roland Garros this week after coming through qualifying following injury and personal problems.
Norrie relishes such occasions, saying: “I think it’s great to play those matches in grand slams against home favourites, and I think that’s why I play tennis. That’s why I love those moments.
“To be on the flip side of that is difficult at times. I think the crowd can be tough at times, but I keep reminding myself it’s good to be playing, that I want to be out there competing and being in those tough moments when the crowd is against me.
“It makes it even better to come through those matches, so it was really cool to play on that court and against Benoit, who was competing really hard and also he came with a good level today.
“I didn’t play my best, and there’s a lot of the things I want to work on in practice tomorrow, but it’s good to get through it and nice to win a five-set match.”
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