By Erik Gudris | @ATNTennis | Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Danielle Collins earned her first ever win over former No. 1 Naomi Osaka 7-6(5), 6-3, at the US Open on Tuesday night.
Photo credit: Manuela Davies/USTA/US Open
Danielle Collins loudly announced that she is back in the mix at the Grand Slams with a convincing straight sets win over former World No. 1 and two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka.
The No.19 seed Collins defeated the unseeded Osaka 7-6(5), 6-3 in a late-night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The victory was the first for Collins in four meetings with Osaka.
"I got lucky in some big moments," Collins said after the match. "But I was working really hard for the points. She wasn't giving me a ton much free ones. Really overall I think it was a solid match, high level of tennis from both of us."
Both players entered the first-round match seeking to build momentum at the last major of the year after each endured up and down seasons. Collins, who lost in the Australian Open final back in January to Ash Barty, had not played since July due to health issues.
Osaka herself had not won back-to-back matches since reaching the Miami final and endured early round losses in Melbourne and Roland Garros.
Collins and Osaka came cracking the ball early and created several intense baseline rallies. Osaka got off to a quick start earning a 3-0 lead. Collins battled to get back on serve as each tested the other with stinging return winners.
Eventually a tiebreak was needed and it proved just as close. The turning point came at 4-4 when a Collins defensive lob looped over Osaka and landed just on the baseline for a winner. Collins eventually sealed the set 7-6(5) when Osaka misfired on a return down set point.
From there, Collins took control as Osaka’s level dipped. Despite Collins going for broke on her shots, and making some errors, she never let Osaka back into the match.
That included at 5-3 when Collins faced break point. Collins survived by hitting a perfect serve into Osaka’s body. Collins soon closed out the match for her first ever win over Osaka 7-6(5), 6-3.
Collins hit 23 winners and 24 unforced errors in the match while saving six of eight break points on her serve, converting three out of five break points.