MIAMI – In only her third match since reaching the finals of the Australian Open, American Danielle Collins seems to have regained her footing.
The highest-ranked American woman at No.11, and the No.9 seed here at the Miami Open, Collins defeated qualifier Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-4 in 78 minutes. Collins had four aces and broke Zvonareva’s serve three times on Stadium court.
Collins has been nursing various injuries this year, including back and abdominal ailments. Lately, she said, the aftereffects of a viral illness have left her with significant neck pain.
Miami Open: Scores | Draw | Order of play
“There was obviously an emotional moment for me, the pain that I’m dealing with right now with this injury,” she said in her on-court interview. “Just trying to work through that, I think is one of the hardest things we go through mentally when we’re on court. Because when we have that physical pain it distracts you from what you need to do, it holds you back in the big moments.”
The 28-year-old American, one of only three seeds left in the top half of the draw, benefitted when the following top players all lost their first matches: No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, No.3 Anett Kontaveit, No.6 Karolina Pliskova, No.11 Elina Svitolina, No.11 Emma Raducanu, No.13 Angelique Kerber and No.18 Leylah Fernandez.
By the numbers: Collins is now 3-0 for her career against Zvonareva, who is a two-time semifinalist here. Zvonareva ended a seven-match losing streak with wins over Misaki Doi and No.19 seed Tamara Zidansek 6-3, 6-2.
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Collins, who made the Miami semifinals as a qualifier in 2018, was aggressive and exhibited superior groundstrokes, which kept Zvonareva under pressure. She won the first set before they needed a fresh set of balls.
Key moment: After Zvonareva broke Collins in the sixth game of the second set on a double fault, she converted her fifth game point to take a 4-3 lead. Collins held, then broke back with a sharp backhand return of a second serve and served out the match.
Head to Head
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Jabeur next up: Collins will meet No.8 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the Round of 16. Jabeur won the Saturday nightcap match over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-3, 6-0.
Upset specialist Kanepi, ranked No.61, has collected 14 Top 10 wins in her lengthy career. However, she was denied a 15th by Jabeur, who won the last 10 games of their tilt to grab the victory in exactly 1 hour. Jabeur is now 3-0 against Kanepi (6-0 in sets).
Highlights: Jabeur def. Kanepi
Collins and Jabeur have a level head-to-head. Collins defeated Jabeur at 2020 Roland Garros, but Jabeur got her revenge in Indian Wells last season.
Riske bests compatriot Li, to face Osaka next
Also on Saturday, Alison Riske won an all-American clash against Ann Li 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to join her countrywoman Collins in the Round of 16. World No.50 Riske took 2 hours and 9 minutes to outlast 65th-ranked Li and take a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head.
Li shocked No.3 seed Anett Kontaveit in the previous round for the first Top 10 win of her career. However, 31-year-old Riske was able to end the run of 21-year-old Li and reach the sweet sixteen in Miami for the first time in her career.
Riske will now face former World No.1 Naomi Osaka in the fourth round.
