By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday May 15, 2024
Danielle Collins continued her winning ways on Wednesday in Rome, taking out Victoria Azarenka to reach the semis.
Photo Source: Getty
You can’t stop her. You can only hope to contain her.
Since April, surging Danielle Collins – aka Danimal – has been one of the hottest players in tennis, and the American continues to play imperious tennis at this week's Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
On Wednesday evening the soon to be retired Floridian took down two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3 to book her maiden semifinal at Rome – Collins will face No.2-seeded Aryna Sabalenka for a spot in the final on Thursday.
It was yet another top-notch performance from Collins, who doubled up Azarenka in the winner category (20 to 10) while hitting three fewer unforced errors than the No.24 seed (24 to 27).
Collins improves to 32-8 on the season and 12-1 on the red clay, as she continues to make the most of the limited time she has left on tour. The 15th-ranked American plans to retire at the end of the season. She has already won titles in Charleston and Miami this spring, and has captured five of her last six matches against Top 20 opponents.
What made the difference on Wednesday for Collins?
"Just the fire in my belly," she said on court after the win. "I did not want to lose that match - I came out her to secure a spot in the semifinals and Vika was making me work for it. I just wanted it realy bad, fought for it each point and just stayed mentally dialed in."
But the challenge will be large in the semifinals. Collins has won 19 of her last 20 matches, but the one loss came to Sabalenka, who she’ll face on Friday. Collins is 0-5 lifetime against Sabalenka, including her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss at Madrid to the eventual runner-up.
More to follow…