By Adrianna Outlaw | Sunday, July 25, 2021
Top-seeded Danielle Collins snapped Elena-Gabriela Ruse's 12-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-2 win in the Palermo Ladies Open final to capture her first WTA title.
Photo credit: @LadiesOpenPA
Danielle Collins showed committed closing kick to capture her first WTA championship.
Collins streaked through eight of the last 10 games defeating Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-4, 6-2 in the Palermo Ladies Open final for her first Tour-level crown.
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The top-seeded Collins converted five of 16 break points snapping Ruse's 12-match winning streak with a one hour, 50-minute victory.
A confident Collins did not drop a set in five tournament victories.
Collins is the 14th maiden title winner on the WTA Tour this season winning her first championship shortly after Belgian Maryna Zanevska topped Kristina Kucova to take the Gdynia title.
The 137th-ranked Ruse fought off Collins in a fierce 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 Hamburg quarterfinal this month. Ruse qualified for Hamburg and battled through seven straight matches to take the Hamburg European Open title.
In today's rematch, a fired-up Collins repeatedly cracked her backhand down the line with ambition to gain a measure of revenge. Winless in six career Tour-level semifinals prior to Palermo, Collins swept fourth-seeded Zhang Shuai and Ruse in succession to attain the title milestone.
Ruse raced out to a 4-2 lead before Collins broke back evening after eight games. Collins broke again to take a one-set lead.
Collins rises to No. 35 in the live rankings as a result of her title run.