Australian Open: Game, set, match

The GIST: A wild vaccine saga, nearly three weeks of play and some, erm, colorful gestures later, it’s almost time to crown the first Grand Slam winners of the year. Time flies when you have no idea what time it is.

Women’s: Tomorrow’s 3:30 a.m. ET final will feature world No. 1 Ash Barty vs. No. 27 Danielle Collins, after both clinched their semifinals with easy, straight-set victories.

• Barty’s already made history: she’s the first Australian to reach the women’s singles final since 1980, and if she wins tonight, she’ll be the first Australian woman to win the Aussie Open since 1978. Sweet as!

• Moving along to Collins, this will be the American’s first-ever Grand Slam finals appearance. Her previous best was a 2019 run to the Australian Open semis.

• It’ll be hard to defeat the top-ranked Barty, who hasn’t dropped a set this tourney, but don’t count out Collins. You gotta believe it, right?

Men’s: The men’s final was set early this morning, with No. 6 Rafael Nadal defeating No. 7 Matteo Berrettini to keep his hunt for a record 21st Grand Slam title alive, while No. 2 Daniil Medvedev upended No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas to advance to his second straight Aussie Open final.

• Back to that record, with one more win, Nadal will break a tie with Roger Federer and Novax Djokovic for most men’s singles Grand Slam victories. History in the making.