In her final season, American Danielle Collins defied the odds to win the Miami Open championship, defeating Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina with a record of 7-5, 6-3. This was Collins’ first WTA 1000 title victory. The 30-year-old athlete, who ranked 53rd in the world, became the lowest-ranked female winner in the entirety of the competition, making this her largest achievement yet.
Collins revealed in January that she would be retiring from the sport at the end of this year. With this, she surprised the crowd by making it to the final round and won against the world’s 4th-ranked player.
She revealed: I couldn’t think of a better way to win my first 1000 title. It means the world to me… With the encouragement and support that I got, it was hard to hide the emotion because I think these are the moments that we live for, and we don’t always get to have them. It was really special.”
Collins victory before her retirement
Collin will now move to 22 in the WTA rankings, despite her insistence that her recent play won’t allow her to reconsider her decision to quit the sport.
During the duration of the game, both players appeared to be excellent serve-takers, but Collins had to put in the most effort to retain her serve. She held strong to avoid a breakpoint at 5-5 with a superb backhand winner that ended a lengthy rally, and she saved four break opportunities and held on to a 4-3 lead.
Collins delivered the game-winning hit when she broke to go up 5-3, while Rybakina was at full stretch on the baseline and went long.
In other news, Rybakina suffered a depressing second straight loss after losing to Petra Kvitova in the Miami finals last year.
More so, Rybakina was unable to compete at Indian Wells due to a stomach ailment. She claimed she was not at her best in four of her five matches in Miami, leading to the final game.
Cover Photo: IG
Source: ABS-CBN News
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