The women’s draw at the Australian Open has been stunned by the rapid rise of 25-year-old Danielle Collins at Melbourne Park.
Prior to Melbourne, the American had never won a grand slam main draw match, never defeated a top five player and had never broken into the world’s top 30. Now, nine days into the tournament, Collins has achieved all of those milestones. Her run to the semi-finals has featured shock wins over Julia Goerges and Caroline Garcia. Then in the fourth round she crushed former champion Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-0, before taming Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets.
Now set to play in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, which is only the third tournament she had ever played in the country, here are 10 things you need to know about the underdog.
- Was a star player on the college circuit – Collins claimed two NCAA titles whilst at the University of Virginia. Becoming only the seventh player in history to do so. She graduated in 2016 with a degree in media studies. Collins is the first collegiate grand slam quarter-finalist since Lisa Raymond at the 2004 Australian Open.
- Made her main draw debut at the 2014 US Open: The American took a set off Simona Halep at her home grand slam before losing in the first round.
- Created history in Miami – at the 2018 Miami Open Collins became the first qualifier to ever reach the semifinals of the tournament. Scoring her first ever top 10 win over Venus Williams. The run earned her $327,965, which was more than double her career earnings at the time.
- 2019 is only her third season as a professional: She began her professional career at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open and ended the season at 167th in the world. The following year, she claimed 17 wins on the tour and finished more than 100 places higher at 36th.
- Against top 20 opposition: Collins now has a win-loss record of 6-9 against top 20 opponents. She has also scored wins over Madison Keys and Coco Vandeweghe. The players she has defeated are the following :-
-No.14 Keys (2018 Indian Wells)
-No.16 Vandeweghe (2018 Miami)
-No.8 V.Williams (2018 Miami)
-No.2 Kerber (2019 Australian Open)
-No.19 Garcia (2019 Australian Open)
-No.14 Goerges (2019 Australian Open) - Prize Money milestone: As a result of her run, she will surpass the $1 million mark in career prize money following the conclusion of the Australian Open.
- Coach: Collins was introduced to tennis at the age of three. She is coached by Mat Cloer. A former college All-American and assistant coach. He has previously worked with Mackenzie McDonald.
- Fed Cup: She was nominated to play in the 2018 Fed Cup final in what would have been her first taste of the team competition. However, her doubles match wasn’t played after America lost three matches in a row to the Czech Republic.
- Wrist surgery: In 2014 Collins had a operation on her wrist to remove a bone fragment that was causing her discomfort whilst playing.
- Idols: Venus Williams is one of her idols. Following her won over the former world No.1 in Miami last year, Collins said she nearly cried the first time she saw Venus in person.
“The first time I saw Venus in the locker room, I nearly cried. “I mean, I’ve idolised her my whole life. She’s been my favourite player for forever. This is such a special moment, I’m just trying to wrap my head around it.”
