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.

ATP

Roland Garros Daily Preview: The Second Week Begins on Sunday

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Carlos Alcaraz on Friday night in Paris (twitter.com/rolandgarros)

The round of 16 begins on Sunday in Paris.

 

The highest-ranked players in the world named Lorenzo, Italians Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego, face tall tasks in the fourth round.  Musetti plays World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, while Sonego plays Karen Khachanov, who has advanced to the semifinals at the last two Majors.  Plus the finalists at the last Slam, Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas, both play their fourth round matches on Sunday.

On the women’s side, Elina Svitolina faces the toughest test yet in her impressive return from child birth, in ninth-seeded Daria Kasatkina, a semifinalist here a year ago.  And the FTT have finally scheduled a WTA match for the night session, where Major champs Aryna Sabalenka and Sloane Stephens will collide. 

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Sunday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.


Karen Khachanov (11) vs. Lorenzo Sonego – 11:00am on Court Suzanne-Lenglen

While Khachanov’s recent Slam success has come at hard court Majors, this remains his best Major.  Karen is now 20-6 at Roland Garros, and has reached the second week in six of his seven appearances.  However, he’s just 1-4 in the round of 16 at this event.

Sonego outlasted Khachanov’s close friend and frequent doubles partner, Andrey Rublev, in five sets on Friday.  This is now a third career appearance in the round of 16 at a Major for the 28-year-old Italian, one of which came here three years ago.  However, he’s 0-2 in those prior appearances.

They have played three times before, with Khachanov taking two of those three meetings, though they’ve split the two that occurred on clay.  All of those matches occurred between four-to-five years ago.  On Sunday, I give the slight edge to Karen.  He has the bigger game which can more easily dictate play, and a huge edge in experience in the second week of Slams.


Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Lorenzo Musetti (17) – Third on Court Philippe-Chatrier

Alcaraz is now 33-3 in 2023, and has lost only one set through his first three matches in Paris.  Carlitos is looking to equal his best result at this tournament, when he advanced to the quarterfinals a year ago.  But his potential road to the final is anything but easy, starting with the uber-talented Musetti on Sunday, then potentially Tsitsipas in the quarters, and Djokovic in the semifinals.

Musetti has not dropped any sets to this stage, impressively taking out Cam Norrie in the third round, losing just seven games in the match.  This equals Lorenzo’s best career result at a Major to date, when he reached the round of 16 in Paris two years ago, and was even up two sets against Djokovic, yet only managed one game in the last three sets.

This is only the second of what will likely be many tour-level encounters between 20-year-old Alcaraz and 21-year-old Musetti.  When they played last summer in the final of Hamburg on clay, Lorenzo prevailed 6-4 in the third after nearly three hours.  But in the best-of-five format, the red-hot and super-fit Carlitos is the favorite, though I’m quite curious to see how seriously Musetti can challenge Alcaraz on this big stage.


Elina Svitolina vs. Daria Kasatkina (9) – Third on Court Suzanne-Lenglen

Kasatkina was just 12-12 this season, and is defending semifinal points here from a year ago.  Yet she has performed very well under that pressure, winning all of her matches decisively in straight sets.  This is easily her strongest Major, where she owns 20 career wins, while she’s yet to accumulate double-digit wins at any other.

But this is also Svitolina’s best Slam, where she’s now 25-9, with three previous quarterfinals.  And while this is just her fifth WTA-level tournament since becoming a mother, returning to action only two months ago, she’s on an eight-match winning streak, coming off a title run a week ago in Strasbourg.  Elina survived two consecutive three-setters to reach this fourth round contest.

And Svitolina has completely dominated their history, with a record of 6-0.  That includes a clay court match five years ago in Rome, which is only one of two occasions Kasatkina has even managed to take a set off of her.  So despite Elina’s lack of match play this past year, she should be favored to achieve her fourth French Open quarterfinal.


Sloane Stephens vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Not Before 8:15pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier

Sabalenka is an excellent 32-5 this year, and yet to lose a set in Paris.  This is the farthest she has ever advanced in this city, though she’s reached the semis or better at every other Major.  Aryna is looking to win her fourth title of the season, and her second Slam in a row.

Stephens’ Major title came nearly six years ago in New York, though she did reach another final here a year later, when she was even up a set and a break before losing to Simona Halep.  Sloane had quite a rough start to her year, but has now won 12 of her last 14 matches on clay, including a title run at an ITF-level event a month ago.  And unlike Sabalenka, Roland Garros is her best Major, where she’s now 35-11 lifetime, and she’s reached the second week in nine of her last 11 appearances.

Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 3-0, though all three of those matches went the distance.  I expect another tight encounter on Sunday evening, but Aryna must be considered the favorite based on her recent form, and how well her big serve and groundstrokes have been clicking.


Other Notable Matches on Sunday:

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Elise Mertens (28) – Pavlyuchenkova was the runner-up here two years ago, but this run to the round of 16 is a surprise, as she was just 8-9 on the year coming into this event after missing most of 2022 due to a knee injury.  Mertens is 18-11 this season, and has not dropped a set to this stage, upsetting third-seeded Jessica Pegula in the last round.  They have split two previous meetings, both of which took place in 2017.

Novak Djokovic (3) vs. Juan Pablo Varillas – Djokovic claimed all nine sets he played in the first week, even though four of them went to a tiebreak.  Varillas has amazingly won three five-setters, coming from two-sets-down in the first two.  The 27-year-old had never won a match at a Major prior to this fortnight, and is the first Peruvian to advance this far at Roland Garros in nearly 30 years. 

Karolina Muchova vs. Elina Avanesyan (LL) – Muchova is vying for her fourth Slam quarterfinal, and her first since Wimbledon 2021, as injuries have interrupted her career.  Avanesyan is a 20-year-old lucky loser who upset Belinda Bencic in the first round, and is appearing in only her second main draw at a Major. 

Sebastian Ofner (Q) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) – Tsitsipas has only dropped one set thus far, while Ofner survived a five-setter against Fabio Fognini in the last round, and is another 27-year-old debuting in the second week of a Slam. 


Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.

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Roland Garros Daily Preview: Teen Sensations Meet in the Third Round

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Coco Gauff this week in Paris (twitter.com/rolandgarros)

Third round singles action concludes on Saturday in Paris.

 

In what could be the first of many battles between two of tennis’ most promising young stars, 19-year-old Coco Gauff will face 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.  And the top two American men, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, take on considerable opposition in Francisco Cerundolo and Sascha Zverev, respectively.   

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Saturday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.


Mirra Andreeva (Q) vs. Coco Gauff (6) – Second on Court Suzanne-Lenglen

Gauff is 21-8 on the year despite changes to her coaching team and some continued issues with the mechanics of her game, primarily her forehand and serve.  She was the runner-up here a year ago, losing 6-1, 6-3 in the final to Iga Swiatek.  Coco dropped the first set in her opener, but has easily secured her four sets played since.

Andreeva is ranked 143rd in the world, but she started the year 312th.  She is an excellent 22-2 at all levels, including qualifying.  Mirra has taken all 10 sets she’s played since the beginning of qualifying last week.  The tennis world first took notice of her earlier this clay court season in Madrid, when she upset Leylah Fernandez, Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Magda Linette to reach the fourth round.

On Saturday, I would not be shocked to witness Andreeva upset Gauff.  Coco has not been playing her best tennis of late, going just 3-3 on clay ahead of this fortnight.  And she has the pressure of defending finalist points on her young shoulders.  But Gauff has a big game, and certainly has a huge edge in experience, both of which should be enough to propel her to victory.


Francisco Cerundolo (23) vs. Taylor Fritz (9) – Third on Court Suzanne-Lenglen

It will be quite interesting to see and hear how the French crowd treats Fritz on Saturday after provoking, trolling, and shushing the audience on Thursday evening.  Taylor may live to regret that decision, as the French tennis fans have long memories, and love to involve themselves in matches.  Fritz is now a strong 31-11 this season, and looking to advance to the second week of this tournament for the first time.

Cerundolo is 22-14 this year, and 15-9 on clay.  All three of his career ATP finals have come on this surface, including just last week in Lyon. 

So what will prevail on Saturday: Taylor’s serving prowess, or Francisco’s formidable forehand?  In another first career meeting on the day, I give the American the slight edge.  While the crowd will be against him, he is much more experienced at this stage of a Major.  Prior to this year, Cerundolo was 0-4 in the main draw at Slams.


Bianca Andreescu vs. Lesia Tsurenko – Third on Court Simonne-Mathieu

Andreescu’s victory over Victoria Azarenka in the first round was quite a surprise.  Bianca was just 9-9 on the year, and 0-2 on clay, a surface where she only owns 14 career victories.  She has unfortunately suffered setback after setback since her amazing 2019 season, yet continues to try to fight her way back to the top of the sport.

Tsurenko, a Ukrainian, has been open regarding how hard it has been to play on tour for the last year-and-a-half.  She even withdrew from Indian Wells in March, after having a panic attack which she blamed on unsettling comments from WTA CEO Steve Simon regarding Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.  But Lesia is now a superb 27-8 this season at all levels, and eliminated 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first round.

Their only prior encounter occurred earlier this year on a hard court in Hua Hin, when Tsurenko was leading 7-5, 4-0 in the semifinals before Andreescu retired from the match.  And on Saturday, I lean towards Lesia to prevail again based on both players’ form this season.


Sascha Zverev (22) vs. Frances Tiafoe (12) – Not Before 8:15pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier

Tiafoe is 23-8 in 2023, and while clay is not his strongest surface, he did win a 250-level title at the start of the clay season in Houston.  Frances was just 1-7 lifetime at Roland Garros before this week, at the only Major where he’s yet to reach the second week.

Of course it was at this event a year ago when Zverev suffered that gruesome, upsetting ankle injury in the semifinals against Rafael Nadal, ending his 2022 season.  He is yet to rediscover his top form this year, with a modest record of 18-14.  But Sascha did claim his first two matches this week in straight sets.

Zverev has dominated their history, with a 6-1 edge.  However, they haven’t played in over 18 months, and Tiafoe and Zverev are both different players than they were in 2021.  Yet on this surface, Sascha should be favored to advance after an extended battle on Saturday night.


Other Notable Matches on Saturday:

Elena Rybakina (4) vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo – It’s hard to find two more polar opposite styles: the power of Rybakina, and the grinding defense of Sorribes Tormo.  Neither player has dropped a set to this stage, and Sara took their only previous meeting, two years ago on a hard court in Miami.

Zhizhen Zhang vs. Casper Ruud (4) – Ruud has not repeated his great success from 2022 during 2023, with an 18-11 record to date.  Zhizhen made his big breakthrough earlier this year in Madrid, where he won three consecutive third-set tiebreaks over Denis Shapovalov, Cam Norrie, and Taylor Fritz.  He is the first Chinese man to win a match at the French Open in 86 years, as he and Wu Yibing continue to break new ground for Chinese tennis.

Ekaterina Alexandrova (23) vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia (14) – This is the farthest Haddad Maia has ever advanced at a Major.  This is Alexandrova’s sixth time in the third round of a Slam, but she’s yet to go farther.  They’ve played twice before in qualifying for events in 2017, with Beatriz winning both matches.

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Xinyu Wang – Swiatek won her first two matches by the same score: 6-4, 6-0.  And Iga is 4-0 in the third round of Roland Garros.  Xinyu is also yet to lose a set, in her best performance at a Major to date.


Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.

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Grand Slam Glory Is The Main Goal For America’s Coco Gauff

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Cori Gauff - Australian Open 2023 (Twitter @AustralianOpen)

 Coco Gauff has big aspirations and she isn’t afraid to speak openly about them. 

 

Following her second round win over Julia Grabher at the French Open on Thursday, the 19-year-old played down the fixation on her current ranking which is No.6 in the world. Gauff admits that her position is something that doesn’t concern her in the sport unless she is sitting at the top of the world rankings. 

“I’m not a ranking person at all. The goal is No.1, and I think that’s when I would care about the ranking,” she stated in her press conference. 
“Anything in between two and 10, I mean, I’m going to be honest, it’s not that important to me.”

Gauff first broke into the world’s top 10 in September 2022 and has remained there ever since. At the time she was the youngest top 10 debutant on the WTA Tour since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006. She has been ranked as high as No.4 in the world.

“When I made the top 10, it was a cool accomplishment, but for me it was never about staying there. I only want to go upwards,” she said. “The biggest goal is to win Grand Slams, and I think the ranking will come with Grand Slams.”

It was 12 months ago at Roland Garros where Gauff achieved her best performance at a major by reaching the final before losing in straight sets to Iga Swiatek. The tournament is her best Grand Slam in terms of match wins (13) and is the only one where she has reached the quarter-finals or better on multiple occasions. Gauff also won the French Open girls’ title back in 2018 at the age of just 14. 

Five years on from the junior triumph, she has become a regular fixture on the Tour. So much so, that there is already another generation of players on the rise. One of those includes Russia’s Mirra Andreeva who says her ultimate goal in tennis is to break Novak Djokovic’s all-time Grand Slam title record which currently stands at 22. Andreeva, who is only the seventh player under the age of 17 to reach the third round of Roland Garros since 1993, will be Gauff’s next opponent. 

“I think she knows the game well, and she’s proved her position to be here and proved in her results in the past, so I don’t think the age thing matters,” Gauff commented on her next opponent. 
“I’ve never thought about my age, to be honest. This will be my third time playing someone younger than me.
“Honestly, the first two times I didn’t even think about it because when you step on the court, you just see your opponent, and you don’t really think about the personal side of things. You just see forehand, backhand, serve, and all the same.”

Gauff will play Andreeva on Saturday. 

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