On Jan. 29, Ash Barty ended a 44-year drought by becoming the first Australian to win an Australian Open singles title since 1978, ESPN.com noted.
The world number-one player and hometown favorite capped off a dominant run at Melbourne Park, overcoming U.S. player and 27th seed Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6(2) on Rod Laver Arena to clinch her home Slam without dropping a single set. Barty overcame a 5-1 hole in the second set.
Chris O'Neilthe last Australian to win a singles title at the Australian Opendelivered the Daphne Akhurst Trophy to Rod Laver Arena before the match. But it was mentor and fellow Australian tennis great Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who won the tournament four consecutive times between 1974-77, who presented it to Barty after her win, which netted her slightly more than $2 million.
Barty joins Serena Williams as the only active women's players to have won at least three different majors and the season-ending WTA Finals.
Legendary tennis player Billie Jean King was among those lauding Barty, tweeting, "What a special day for Australia! [Australian flag emoji] Congratulations, @ashbarty!"
This tournament also marked the end of out lesbian tennis player Samantha Stosur's singles career. Stosur, 37, concluded it with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to No. 10 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova earlier in the tourney. Stosur won a Grand Slam singles title at the 2011 US Open, beating Williams in the final.