Perfect farewell for Collins
American downs Rybakina to claim Miami title in final season
AMERICAN DANIELLE Collins overcame fourth seed Elena Rybakina to win the final of the Miami Open 7-5, 6-3 yesterday and claim the title on home soil in her farewell season.
Collins won nearly 75% of her first-serve points while claiming three of her seven break points on the way to victory in just over two hours after a stunning second set that left the crowd, including former Miami champion Andre Agassi breathless.
“This is my first WTA 1000 (title) and I worked so hard, it has taken me a bit longer than a lot of the other players,” said 30-year-old Collins of her triumph.
“This whole week has been tough – I have played against some of the best players in the world, including being out here and sharing the court with Elena in the final,” Collins said.
“Thank you to the fans. I’ve played a lot of tennis and in a few finals, but nothing compares close to this.
“I have always wanted to win every tournament that I have signed up for, but because it was my last year, I was like, I really want to try to win a Masters 1000 this year.
“That’s really important to me. That’s something that I talked a lot about with everybody close to me,” she said.
“I really wanted to make a push to be able to bring out my best tennis. I’m so glad that I have been able to figure out some of the physical things I have needed to do to kind of peak at the right time and to feel like I’m ready to go.
“I certainly did that this tournament, but it has been a goal, yeah. So I got to tick it off the list,” she added with a grin.
Collins joins Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, three-times champion Venus Williams, eight-times winner Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens as the sixth American woman to claim the crown.
Rybakina, who lost last year’s Miami final to Petra Kvitova, missed Indian Wells this month with a gastrointestinal problem.
She returned to the courts and put in a superb run, beating Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in three sets in the semifinals, but admitted she did not expect to fight for the title.
“We didn’t expect coming here to be in the final, to be honest, but it was a great two weeks. A lot of tough matches and great battles,” the 24-yearold said. – Reuters