Danielle Collins Stuns Muguruza In Late-Night Thriller - UBITENNIS
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Danielle Collins Stuns Muguruza In Late-Night Thriller

Danielle Collins shocked Garbine Muguruza 7-5 2-6 6-4 in a pulsating late-night encounter at the 2020 French Open.

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DanielleCollins (@rolandgarros on Twitter)

Danielle Collins shocked Garbine Muguruza 7-5 2-6 6-4 in a pulsating late-night encounter at the 2020 French Open.

The American, 26, performed well in the first set, dropped her intensity in the second set and then pounced when the Spaniard faltered in the decider.

Collins will face Ons Jabeur in the last 16. The entertaining Tunisian earned an upset of her own when she beat Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(7) 2-6 6-3.

Collins wins first-set hitting contest

The first set was very close-fought. After Muguruza secured an early break, Collins broke back to level the score at 2-2. Then for the rest of the set, both players put on an exhibition of power-hitting.

They matched each other up to 5-5. Then the American held to love to give herself a chance to swing freely against the Spaniard’s serve. She seized it with some huge strikes to wrestle the set away from Muguruza.

Although the World No.15 lost the set, she had every reason to feel puzzled about the outcome. She had a better winners to unforced errors ratio than Collins (14-8 versus 15-16) and she won most of her service games more easily than the American.

In essence, the World No.57 won the opening set courtesy of her ability to save break points with her powerful serve. Because of this, Muguruza only managed to convert one of her eight chances.

Muguruza storms back

Garbine Muguruza (@rolandgarros on Twitter)

To her immense credit, Muguruza remained completely calm and never let the destination of the first set bother her.

The Spaniard stepped out and produced a near-flawless display in the second set. She cracked 11 winners and made just four unforced errors as she broke Collins in the first and fifth games and claimed the set 6-2 in just 33 minutes.

Collins pounces as Muguruza falls away

Muguruza maintained her momentum at the start of the decider. She broke Collins in the opening game for the third consecutive set. Then she staved off two break points during a battling hold that made it 2-0.

In game three, the Spaniard hit two excellent winners to go 0-30 up on the American’s serve. Then Collins made an unforced error on break point.

Muguruza offered the World No.57 a glimmer of hope when she made some sloppy errors to hand her a break. Buoyed by this, the American began to compete more effectively, and the following three tight games were all eventually won by the server to make it 4-3 to the Spaniard.

Then Muguruza faltered again. She served poorly and Collins broke her again to level the score. And the American followed it with a hold to love to pile pressure on the Spaniard.

Surprisingly, the 2016 champion crumbled. She hit two double faults during her worst service game of the match to hand victory to the American.

Kvitova survives but Ostapenko departs

Paula Badosa (@rolandgarros on Twitter)

Petra Kvitova fought back from 5-1 down in the opening set to beat Leylah Fernandez 7-5 6-3 and book her place in the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time since 2015.

The Czech, 30, made a host of unforced errors in the first six games. Meanwhile, the teenage Canadian, who won the junior French Open title last year, started very brightly.

Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, Kvitova drew on all her experience to storm back and take the first set. Then she won the second set relatively easily. The Czech will now face Zhang Shuai in the last 16. The Chinese player beat French wildcard 7-6(2) 7-5.

By contrast, Jelena Ostapenko turned in the kind of performance viewers have become accustomed to during her slide down the rankings.

The Latvian, 23, made 10 double faults and 43 unforced errors during 82 painful minutes on court. Accordingly, she lost 6-4 6-3 to main draw debutant Paula Badosa, who played well throughout.

It was a remarkable win for the Spaniard, 22, who had already achieved her best result at a Grand Slam by reaching the third round. She will now take on another surprise package in the last 16 in the shape of Laura Siegemund. The German upset 13th seed Petra Martic 6-7(5) 6-3 6-0.

Kenin hurries through

Sofia Kenin (@rolandgarros on Twitter)

Sofia Kenin charged into the last 16 of the French Open courtesy of a 6-2 6-0 victory over Irina Bara that took her just 72 minutes to achieve.

The American, 21, required three sets to win in rounds one and two. But she had no such trouble this time. She sealed a fourth meeting with Fiona Ferro, one of nine unseeded players in the last 16.

The Frenchwoman, 23, is enjoying comfortably the best year of her career so far. And she added another highlight when she overcame Patricia Maria Tig 7-6(7) 4-6 6-0.

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Coco Gauff And Aryna Sabalenka Struggle Through In Indian Wells Openers

The duo were pushed to three sets in their first matches played at this year’s WTA 1000 event.

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Coco Gauff admits she didn’t play her best tennis at Indian Wells on Saturday after coming through a rollercoaster three-set battle. 

The world No.3 needed more than two hours to oust France’s Clara Burel 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Gauff found herself trailing multiple times during the match. After losing the opening set, the reigning US Open champion then had to battle back from a 0-4 deficit in the decider. Capitalising on some tentative hitting from Burel who was bidding to record the biggest win of her career. 

Despite prevailing, it was a far from vintage performance from Gauff who hit six double faults and 14 unforced errors during the first set alone. She also struggled behind her second serve, winning just 12 out of 36 points played. 

“I think for me it’s just getting through that match definitely meant a lot,” Gauff said. “Could have easily thrown in the towel. But honestly, I was just telling myself, like, win or lose, I don’t want to have any regrets on the court. I want to be like I gave myself the best opportunity to win, and I did that.
“Am I proud of how I played? Not really, to be honest. But the fight, I am proud of. I am eager to improve. I think it wasn’t my best tennis at all. I think I just have a lot of improvement that I can do to get better.”

The 19-year-old has become the first teenager in the last 15 years to have won 50 or more matches at WTA 1000 events. She will next play Lucia Bonzetti.

“That’s pretty cool,” Gauff commented on her latest milestone. “I feel like I have a lot of stats and stuff like that. Hopefully I can close this chapter of my life off good. I’m really happy with how my teenage years went.” 

Sabalenka avoids major upset 

Aryna Sabalenka was another player to experience trouble during their opening match after outlasting Peyton Sterns 6-7 (2), 6-2, 7-6 (8), in a clash that lasted almost three hours. The world No.2 was on the verge of losing and had to save four match points when down 4-5 in the final set. Despite that blip, she held her nerve to break back before prevailing in a tightly contested tiebreaker. 

“Wow, I think I was right when I see this tattoo of a tiger and I was fighting today like a tiger,” said Sabalenka. “It’s just crazy what happened. She’s an unbelievable player.
“She played crazy tennis. She said at the net, ‘I had you,’ so she’s right. I was probably a little bit lucky to get this win. Super happy to get through this.”
“I didn’t play my best tennis and she was crushing it like crazy. I was just trying to stay in the game and keep fighting for every point. But this match definitely goes into the book of craziest matches and the best matches of my career.”

Sabalenka is hoping to go one step better in Indian Wells than 12 months ago when she reached the final before losing to Elena Rybakina, who has pulled out of the tournament due to gastrointestinal issues. 

Awaiting the Belrussian in the next round will be Emma Raducanu in what will be the first meeting on the Tour. 

Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka posted a convincing 7-5, 6-3, win over world No.15 Luidmila Samsonova. It is the first time she has beaten a top 20 player since returning to competitive tennis following the birth of her child. 

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WTA

Caroline Wozniacki Expresses Delight After Vekic Win, Ons Jabeur Crashes Out

Caroline Wozniacki earned a big win over Donna Vekic at Indian Wells while Ons Jabeur crashed out.

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Caroline Wozniacki is into the third round at Indian Wells after toppling Donna Vekic 7-6(3) 6-3 while Ons Jabeur crashed out.

The former Australian Open champion produced a resilient and clinical display to knock out Vekic in straight sets.

It was a clinical display on return as Wozniacki neutralized the Croatian’s serve to break on three occasions to reach the third round.

Speaking after the match Wozniacki described Indian Wells as one of the best tournaments in the world and was happy with the performance, “Donna is a great competitor, great player. I thought we both played really well today. Just happy to be through this one,” the 33 year-old told the WTA website.

“I’m here because I love to be here. You know, I’m lucky enough that I have been given some wildcards so I’m able to play these big tournaments and compete against the best players in the world.”

Wozniacki will now face Katie Volynets in the third round after the American stunned sixth seed Ons Jabeur.

The world number 131 recorded the biggest victory of her career against the out-of-sorts Tunisian in a 6-4 6-4 win.

In an interview after the match Volynets described how much it meant to her to beat one of her idols, “I’m so honored to have a wild card here and I’m so honored to play Ons,” the wildcard told the WTA website.

“I’ve been watching her on TV for years so it’s just such an honor to play here on this court against such a wonderful player. I’m definitely pleased with how I was able to execute today.

“I think it was very close the entire time. She was throwing in some amazing drop shots and slices and injecting some pace. I’m glad I was able to overcome that.”

The winner of Wozniacki and Volynets will play the winner of Veronika Kudermetova against Angelique Kerber.

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Simona Halep To Make Tennis Return In Miami

Simona Halep has a wildcard into the Miami Open.

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Simona Halep will make her return to tennis in Miami after receiving a wildcard for the tournament.

The Romanian hasn’t played competitively for 19 months with her last appearance being a first round defeat to Daria Snigur at the 2022 US Open.

After her appearance in New York, Halep would be banned for four years from competitive tennis after failing a doping test.

A lengthy appeal process followed from Halep which eventually saw her ban reduced by the Court Of Arbitration For Sport to nine months, therefore allowing her to resume competitive tennis with immediate effect.

It hasn’t taken long for Halep to make her next step as the Romanian announced on Instagram that she has received a wildcard for the Miami Open.

It will be interesting to see what shape Halep is in as it would have made more logical sense for the former Roland Garros Champion to begin her comeback on clay.

The 32 year-old has made nine appearances in Miami and her best performance has been reaching the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019.

Time will tell whether Halep can repeat her past success with the Miami Open starting on the 19th of March.

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