Unseeded Wang Yafan upsets Collins in third round of Miami Open
When Danielle Collins became the first woman qualifier to reach the Miami Open semifinals last year, fans were wondering who is this American upstart playing havoc with the draw.
Fast forward one year and Collins is now viewed as an imposing figure every time she walks on a tennis court. That’s why when the 25th-seeded Floridian suffered a 7-5, 6-1 third-round loss to 50th-ranked Wang Yafan of China Sunday, it was considered a tournament upset.
Despite being a two-time NCAA singles champion out of the University of Virginia, Collins was hardly a familiar face in her 2018 Miami debut. That wasn’t very surprising considering her résumé only boasted three tour-level match wins at that point.
Her road to last year’s semifinal delivered a first career top-10 victory when she defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. The whopping $327,965 semifinal paycheck more than doubled the then 93rd-ranked Collins’ total career earnings.
“Beating Venus Williams here last year really showed me I could play at the highest level,” said Collins, in a phone call with the Miami Herald after her loss to Wang.
Collins arrived on the tennis scene from a less typical path.
Born into a working class family in St. Petersburg, her 80-year-old father was initially a commercial fisherman, and as she proudly declared at the recent Australian Open still goes to work every day as a landscaper. Collins’ junior career was often curtailed by finances that wouldn’t support travel to far afield events, but that never squelched her desire to play.
“For those who are familiar with my tennis and know my back story, nobody would’ve ever thought I’d make it this far, and I’ve proven so many people wrong,” she said. “I’m so incredibly proud of myself.”
Determined to improve, Collins chose college as the training ground for a future pro career, and along the way earned a degree in media studies. In 2017, she set out to play the lesser ITF circuit, where she won two $25,000 titles.
By 2018 she was ready to try to qualify into WTA main draw events, and by March she initiated a stunning career breakthrough in Miami. While some players fail to capitalize on their big moment, Collins used the initial success as a jumping off point. By year’s end, she won her first 17 main draw matches of her career and closed out 2018 ranked No. 36. The 2019 season commenced with another career milestone as she journeyed to her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open in January.
“Playing the Australian Open main draw for the first time and getting to the semifinals, these are the things you dream of when you are little,” Collins said. “It’s just fun to be able to do this for a living and play on the biggest stages in the world.”
Opinions on Collins can fluctuate from her being the ultimate competitor to being an abrasive in-your-face opponent.
“I know she can be like this,” said Wang, displaying a shaking fist pump, after winning their first career encounter.
On Sunday, however, the normally exuberant Collins displayed little firepower, which found her cutting a meeker figure on court. Collins started the match strong, pushing to a 4-1 lead in the opening set. But after that lead she would only win two more games in the match.
“I think when you really can’t rely on your serve that much and you’re struggling to find the court with your groundstrokes, when you’re not having your best day it’s hard to be as feisty and vocal,” said Collins, offering an honest assessment of her performance. “I think the biggest thing as I wasn’t on my game and she was.
“I would’ve loved to have had another great run in Miami, but clearly it wasn’t meant to be today. The wonderful thing with our sport is I have another tournament next week in Charleston.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2019 at 8:27 PM.