Forty-four: the number of years Australia has waited for a home winner of its Grand Slam, a run that finalist Ash Barty has been reminded of from the moment she entered the professional ranks.
For Barty, the hurdle to overcome is that of history and expectation akin to Andy Murray in winning Wimbledon for the first time.
On the other side of the net on Saturday night stands Danielle Collins. There is a small pocket of Australia cheering for her – her boyfriend and coach Tom Couch is a former Australian Rules player.
But the obstacles she has overcome to get to this final makes the weight of expectation on Barty’s shoulders pale into insignificance.
Collins has had a long, initially undiagnosed battle with endometriosis, a painful condition in and around the uterus, which causes pain so severe it caused her to fall over at last year’s Australian Open with contraction-like cramping in her low pelvis and abdominal muscles.
At its worst, it also created terrible sciatic nerve pain, which led to a loss of feeling in her foot and a stabbing pain throughout her spine. A knock-on effect were fevers, flu-like symptoms, sudden vomiting and being bed ridden, the American unable to explain away the mystery side effects.
It got to a point where tennis no longer became the priority anymore and, in April, she was rushed in for emergency surgery. She was in so much pain for the two days after the operation that she could only curl up in a ball.
The surgery resulted in a cyst – the size of tennis ball – being removed from her ovary with four separate incisions made into her abdominal area, leaving her with four abdominal tears from which to recover.
Within seven weeks, she was playing at the French Open. Nine months on, she finds herself in the first Grand Slam final of a career that has been late to blossom at the age of 28.
If she produces the sort of rapid, early hitting employed in her semi-final demolition of Iga Swiatek, that 44-year wait could well turn to 45 for an expectant Australia. The hope is she is not overawed by the occasion.
“To be playing on this stage where so many of my idols as a kid were playing, it’s almost surreal,” she said. “This is what we all, as kids, dream of doing. So, it’s just such a special moment for me. I’m just trying to embrace all of it.”
Growing up, it was the Williams sisters – Venus and Serena – whom she aspired to emulate and watched glued to the television.
But there were points leading up to last year’s surgery that playing tennis pain-free, let alone having tournament aspirations, appeared too far off to contemplate.
“Had I not had surgery, I just couldn’t keep living my life like that,” she said. “It is some of the worst pain I’ve ever had. It was scary at times. I just didn’t know what was going on.
“Once I was able to kind of get the proper diagnosis and surgery, I felt like it’s helped me so much not just from a physical standpoint but from a mental standpoint. I definitely feel more free. I feel like I have solutions to be able to manage when there are things that come up.”
Managing Barty is the prospect that lies in wait at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night. The Australian has barely put a foot wrong all tournament, conceding just 21 games and only having her serve broken once in 12 sets of tennis, each of her matches barely lasting the hour mark.
Collins has the mental advantage of having won their last encounter in Adelaide just a matter of weeks before her career and life-changing surgery. For the final, her hope is simple: “We’re going to have another battle and put on a show for everyone.”
