The darling of Australia's tennis courts, Ash Barty, endured a torrid relationship with 2025 Australian Open villain Danielle Collins during her playing days, but exacted icy revenge in her final act as a player.
Collins became public enemy number one at Melbourne Park on Thursday night when she defeated Australia's Destanee Aiava to a chorus of boos from the home crowd.
She took advantage of the attention, blew kisses to the jeering crowd, slapped her butt as if to say “kiss my ass” and reveled in her victory over the young Australian star.
He then turned the knife even further by describing how he would spend his winning check.
“You know, I was thinking during the game, 'Hmm, if I'm here, I might as well take that big, fat paycheck,'” Collins said in his on-court interview.
'Coco (Vandeweghe) and I love five-star vacations, so part of that check will go toward that. So, thanks guys.'
Ash Barty claimed the Australian Open in 2022 and retired from the sport shortly after.
Barty endured a torrid relationship with American Danielle Collins and did not want to meet her in the final
Collins burst into tears after losing to Barty at the 2022 Australian Open in Melbourne.
She doubled down in her post-match press conference.
“My group of friends and I love five-star vacations, so I can guarantee you that check will go toward our next five-star trip, hopefully to the Bahamas,” she said.
'We like boats, we like big boats, we like yachts. So, yeah, we'll post about it and let you know how it goes.”
But long before he irritated the Aussies against Aiava, Collins had already made enemies of the best player in the game: Barty.
Barty enjoyed a notable tennis career, reaching the world number one ranking and winning three Grand Slam singles titles: the French Open (2019), Wimbledon (2021) and the Australian Open (2022).
However, in a surprising move, Barty retired at age 25, two months after her Australian Open title and was still ranked No. 1 in singles at the time, leaving behind a legacy as one of the greatest champions of Australian tennis.
That meant her last match was against Collins, leaving the American in tears as Barty battled her way to the Australian Open title.
In her book My Dream Time, Barty revealed that she did not want to play against Collins in that year's final and that matches between the two were “ugly” and “exhausting”.
Collins taunted the Australian crowd on Thursday after beating local hope Destanee Aiava.
Barty said the matches against Collins were “ugly” and “exhausting” in his book he wrote when he retired from the sport.
“Who I will play against will be decided the next day. “Iga Swiatek plays Danielle Collins and for me the equation is simple,” she wrote.
'I love Iga and I have a difficult relationship with Danielle. I want to play Iga. I want to share it with her.
“But Danielle wins, and I think about the games we've had in the past and how they were never fun.”
I never walk off the court after playing against Danielle thinking, “That was some good tennis.” Every match has been an ugly, exhausting fight.
Barty also revealed in 2022 that she did not watch the semifinal between Collins and Swiatek.
“Tonight will be a great game. But I probably won't watch it,” he said at the time.
'Tyzz (coach Craig Tyzzer) can see it. “We keep doing our thing, our routines and we come here on Saturday, enjoy it, with a big smile on my face and see what happens.”
Australian tennis great Pat Rafter also previously revealed the troubled relationship between Barty and Collins.
Australian tennis great Pat Rafter also revealed details of the strained relationship between Barty and Collins that came to a head at the 2022 Australian Open.
'I knew she and Danielle had a bit of…what's the word…anyway, there was no love lost. “Danielle is quite feisty… and Ash didn't want to lose to her,” Rafter said in 2022.
Rafter said Collins had such a big impact on Barty that it influenced the way she played on court during the Australian Open final in 2022, even though she normally appears calm, collected and collected.
“It was a lot of fun, I don't know how much you can pick up on the subtleties on the court, but I'm pretty aware of Ash and I understand where his mind is and I can see all his little movements and tics.” ' Rafter said of Barty's raw emotion.
“I was saying, 'oh no, she's getting nervous, she's not good.'”
But she was able to get it out, which was pretty important.
“I would have hated to see her get to the final and lose because she was the dominant player. I like to see the best players win.”