Ashleigh Barty vs. Danielle Collins Preview, Odds, and Picks (Saturday, January 29)

Born and raised in Australia, Ashleigh Barty has a chance to win her first Australian Open title. To do that, she just needs to beat Danielle Collins on Saturday.

I say “just” because winning in the Women’s Singles final shouldn’t be much of a problem for the #1 player in the WTA Rankings. Online tennis sportsbooks agree with me, which you can see for yourself in the section below.

Ash Barty and Danielle Collins head to Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, January 29 to play for the Women’s Singles Championship of the 2022 Australian Open.

Barty is favored to win, and if she does it, she’s going to add a third Grand Slam title to her collection. Previously we saw the Aussie win the 2019 French Open and 2021 Wimbledon. Meanwhile, her opponent is still without a single major title in her portfolio.

Neither player is going to lack any motivation on Saturday, which promises an interesting duel. This goes especially for the fact that both have been playing amazing tennis in 2022 – Barty hasn’t dropped a single set in this tourney while Collins lost only one set in the six matches she’s played so far this year.

Barty has been the ruler of the WTA since 2019, sitting on the top of the rankings for more than 100 consecutive weeks. It’s strange that she’s managed to stay at the top for such a long time considering that she took an 11-month hiatus in 2020 due to COVID-19.

She made her comeback in 2021, just in time for the Australian Open. Barty entered the tournament as the #1 favorite to win but ended up losing in the quarterfinals to Karolína Muchová. The odds on Muchová were as long as +350 ahead of that match.

She then had a chance to shut her critics up at the French Open, but she suffered an injury that made her skip the tournament. There was a possibility that she would drop from the #1 spot in the WTA Rankings, but she prevented it by winning the 2021 Wimbledon, her second Grand Slam.

Her chance of adding the third title to the collection came a few months later at the US Open, where she got (rather surprisingly) eliminated in Round 3 by Shelby Rodgers.

The loss prompted Barty to end the season early and come back to her native Australia. In her homeland, she kicked off the 2022 campaign with a win at the WTA Adelaide. From there, she traveled to Melbourne where we saw her winning each of her six Australian Open matches in straight sets.

#BREAKING: Ash Barty has become the first Australian woman since 1980 to be in the Australian Open final.

The Australian world number one will now compete in Saturday's women's final after beating American Madison Keys. #9News pic.twitter.com/SspZqmoRyW

— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) January 27, 2022

The best thing is that she defeated each of her opponents pretty quickly. In fact, the most she stayed on the court was one hour and 16 minutes in the Round 4 match with Amanda Anisimova which she won 6-4, 6-3.

Still not impressed? You should also know that she won all those matches without losing a single serve!

Same as Barty, Collins too has a 100% record in 2022. She’s been fantastic at the Australian Open, although we did see her lose two sets so far – to Clara Tauson and Elise Mertens.

We also saw her winning against some big favorites, the best example being Iga Swiatek. The two met in the semifinal and the WTA #9 was expected to win easily. However, Collins, who was a +120 pre-match underdog put on an amazing performance, winning in straight sets (6-4, 6-1).

This wasn’t the first time that we saw her take down a favored opponent. In fact, throughout her career, Collins has always been a very tough nut to crack. She even managed to beat Ash Barty once.

It happened last February when the two were playing in the WTA Adelaide. Barty was the #1 favorite to win the tournament, but Collins crushed her dreams, winning 2-0 (6-3, 6-4).

Can she do it again? Well, she does have the skills to upset the odds once again, but this time, it’s more about how Barty will perform.

It’s been a while since we saw Barty playing at a such high level as today. She looks unstoppable at the moment and unless injuries mess up her plans, 2022 is going to be a wonderful year for her. And the best way to start the year is by winning a Grand Slam in her homeland!

I’m pretty certain she will win, but so are the bookmakers. They’re giving just -425 on Barty winning on Saturday, which isn’t that great.

That’s why it might not be crazy to spice things up a bit by backing Barty to win by at least five games’ difference. The odds on Barty (-5) are -104 at SportsBetting.ag.