Back in the top-10 this week for the first time since July of 2022, American Danielle Collins continues to ride the hot hand in 2024. The 30-year-old started her seventh career Roland-Garros appearance with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over compatriot Caroline Dolehide.
Read on to find out more about Collins’ ninth career victory on the Parisian clay…
She’s still on fire
Since announcing plans to retire at the end of the 2024 season, the American has been a veritable tour de force on the circuit. The 30-year-old won her biggest career title in Miami in early April, and didn’t blink when she stepped on the clay, winning a 500-level event in Charleston in her first clay event.
Most recently, she played the final in Strasbourg, falling to Madison Keys, 6-1, 6-2.
With today’s win over Dolehide, Collins improves to 16-4 on the season on clay. Making that number even more impressive is the fact that in her three previous seasons combined, the Florida native had managed only 14 wins on the surface.
"Obviously I have a lot of matches under my belt at this point, and I've played a ton of hours on the clay courts," Collins told reporters on Monday after her win. "It's a good thing. I feel like our clay court season isn't super long, so to be able to have as many matches as I have had and to have a lot of wins on the clay gives me a lot of confidence going into this."
Collins controlled from start to finish on Monday as she improved to 5-1 lifetime against Dolehide. She converted three of 10 break points and claimed 74 percent of her first serve points.
The No.11 seed hit 27 winners against just 15 for Dolehide, and never trailed in either set.
A contender for the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen?
Collins has won 23 of her last 26 matches, dating back to her run to the Miami title, and her torrid tennis has turned the heads of peers, pundits – and legends – alike.
“I think Danielle Collins got a shot at it,” said two-time champion Martina Navratilova last week in a conference call to promote Tennis Channel's coverage of Roland-Garros in America. “She's playing better than ever before. She would be my pick for maybe a sneaky semifinal or a final, or who knows?
“I think she's one to really watch out for, and I know I wouldn't want her in my draw … I would not be thrilled to see her on the other side [of the court] the way she's been feeling it.”
Getting better with age?
It may be Collins' last season on tour, but it doesn't mean her best tennis is behind her. The American spoke of her career arc with reporters on Monday, telling them that she feels she is still figuring out ways to bring out her peak tennis.
"I think people forget sometimes too that I didn't turn pro until later in life," she said. "So I have really only been on tour for six or seven years, right? There's much younger people who have just as much experience as me, and it takes time.
"I don't think a lot of people on tour kind of go into this and have really uber-successful careers. There are a few, of course, and especially some young ones that we're very well aware of, but it does take people time to be able to find their groove and find that success."
Danilovic rematch
They meet again!
In early May, Collins edged Serbia’s Olga Danilovic, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(8), in a gripping two hour and 43-minute second-round encounter in Madrid. It was the American’s first match of the season on the red clay, and it was a titanic struggle. 23-year-old Danilovic led Collins by a set and a break and even had points for a double-break lead in set two.
Collins eventually came through despite the fact that Danilovic served for the match at 5-4 in the third as well.
"I think one of the biggest factors this week compared to that week is the altitude in Madrid," Collins said. "So very different conditions, different court speed. I think it will be a totally different matchup this week.
"But, obviously, she's been playing some really great tennis and doing some great things out there and definitely pushed me and challenged me in the last match that we played. So I'm definitely going to have to sit down, do my homework, and prepare for it at a high level because she knows how to play some really high-level tennis."
125th-ranked Danilovic, who qualified for the main draw, upset former semi-finalist Martina Trevisan in the first round, 6-1, 6-2.
