WATCH: ‘Savage’ Danielle Collins blows a kiss to Romanian fans cheering against her during clash with Sorana Cirstea
The American advances into her third quarter-final in Miami after another straight-set win this week to defeat Sorana Cirstea.
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Danielle Collins (Images via IMAGO, X)
World No. 53 Danielle Collins continues her farewell run at the 2024 Miami Open with another scintillating victory. Up against World No. 24 Sorana Cirstea in the fourth round, the American won the match 6-3, 6-2. In the process, she also shut down the Romanian fans who kept on booing her.
It is the third consecutive straight-set win for Collins as she reaches the quarter-finals in Miami. Cirstea was a semi-finalist in Miami last year and many had picked her as the favorite. But Collins kept her calm and struck to her game plan as she wrapped up the proceedings in one hour and 29 minutes.
Cirstea created three break-point chances for her but Collins brought out her clutch game to defend every one of it. In return, the former World No. 7 converted three of her eight breakpoint chances to remain in control of the match throughout.
Despite the tournament being played in Miami, the Romanian had quite a good number of fans in the stands cheering for her. The cheering slowly started turning into jeering against Collins to build pressure on the 30-year-old. But Collins remained quiet until the job was done.
As she clinched the match point, the former Australian Open runner-up quickly turned to the section where the Romanian fans were seated. In a savage move, she blew kisses to them while approaching the net which further irritated the particular section of spectators.
The bitterness from Collins was however limited only to the rowdy spectators. She didn’t show any tantrum in shaking hands with Cirstea at the net as sportsmanship prevailed between the two opponents.
Danielle Collins presented a big chance to reach the Miami semis
Following the win over Cirstea, Collins will now take on 23rd-seeded Caroline Garcia in the quarter-finals. The French No. 1 stunned local girl Coco Gauff in the fourth round to make her way into the last-8 for the first time in Miami. Garcia won the tie 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.
Collins currently leads the head-to-head against Garcia with a healthy 3-0 lead. All of those matches were played on hardcourts and the American won them in straight-sets. She will look to bank on this confidence, but Garcia will have extra motivation too.
The Frenchwoman has been struggling for form lately and with the win over the in-form Gauff, her confidence will only grow. As she is also winless against Collins, she will certainly look to score her first win against the American.
Collins is into the quarter-finals for the third time in Miami. Her best result remains her semi-final run in 2018 when she made her tournament debut.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)