Danielle Collins trounces Caroline Garcia to reach Miami semis

 

[March 28, 2024]  Red-hot Danielle Collins recorded a powerful 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 23 seed Caroline Garcia of France on Wednesday to reach the Miami Open semifinals at Miami Gardens, Fla., for the second time in her career.

Next up for Collins will be a match against No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, who rallied past No. 5 Jessica Pegula of the United States 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Collins had 22 winners and needed just 80 minutes to dispose of Garcia and improve to 4-0 all-time in the matchup. She converted a blistering 89.7 percent of her first-serve points (26 of 29) and didn't face a single break point.

"I think, depending on the matchup, some people are more favorable against others," Collins said. "I think Caro comes out here and fights her butt off. She hits some really strong shots ... and I don't think the set scores are a reflection of how close the match really is.

"Against someone like Caro, it forces me to be more concentrated, because I know I don't want to give her an inch."

The 30-year-old Collins also reached the Miami semis in 2018 when she lost to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.

Six years later, the former World No. 7 has won five straight matches. She lost her first set of the tournament to Bernarda Pera and has since won 10 consecutive sets.

"I feel like I've made a lot of physical improvements over the last couple weeks and made some adjustments within my game technically," Collins told the Tennis Channel. "I think that's helping me a lot with the accuracy and precision of my shots and being more consistent with my points."

Collins, the 2022 Australian Open runner-up, has been extra hyped up due to the possibility of this being her last time playing in Miami. Earlier this year, the Floridian said she plans for this to be her final year on tour.

"With the way I'm playing, there's certainly a lot to be pumped about," Collins said. "I like to show the positive body language and the fan support I'm getting here is amazing."

Garcia hit 12 winners but won just 11 total points against Collins' serve.

Alexandrova is through to the semifinal of a WTA 1000 event for just the second time in 32 attempts. She got to the semis at Madrid in 2022.

Against Pegula, Alexandrova prevailed despite putting just 60 percent of her first serves in play. The match was tied 4-4 in the third set before Alexandrova got the decisive service break and then served out the victory.

"It was extremely difficult for me because (Pegula) played amazing," Alexandrova said. "In the third set, there were some times the kind of rallies where I couldn't understand how it was possible (for her) to return that ball, but it always (came) back.

"I just tried to play every single point (like) I knew she was going to be everywhere, so I need to do something, and I was trying to wait and use any opportunities that I got."

The women's semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, with the Collins-Alexandrova clash following a matchup of fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and 27th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

--Field Level Media

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