Miami Open champion Danielle Collins continued an amazing run by winning two matches, beating Ons Jabeur and Sloane Stephens to reach the quarterfinals of the rain-delayed Charleston Open. (More Tennis News)
Collins, who has said this will be her final season on tour, has won 10 straight mꦚ♏atches and 20 of her past 21 sets.
Collins and defending champion Jabeur played the first match of the day at the clay-court eve꧅nt after ꦇrain Wednesday led to several matches being postponed.
None of it appeared to bother the 30-year-old Collins, who spent just over three hours on the courtܫ in the two matches🌄 combined.
She topped Jabeur 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in 2 hours, 3 minutes, th🎉en returned about five hours later to take out former U.S. Open champion Stephens 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 11 minutes. Stephens won the title at Ch🐠arleston in 2016.
“I can't remember the last time I playeඣd five sets in a ⛎day,” Collins said. "It was probably like, the juniors and 12-and-unders.
“But the inclement we🅺ather, we had to adjust,” she continued, “and I think on these days, you have to be really flexible and versatile out there.”
Jabeur, ranked sixth, lost her opening match for a fourth consecutive ไtournament. Jabeur is 2-6 th🌠is season.
The 22nd-ranked Collins will next face Elise Mertens, who also won twice Thursday.
Mertens, ranked 30th, needed 2 hours, 30 minutes to beat Vavara Gracheva 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the morning. She returned in the evening to defeat 15th-ranked Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-1 in just over an hour.
Top-seeded Jessica Pegula also reached the final eight, beating Magda Linett🌊e 6-2, 6-2. The fifth-ranked Pegula will fac💧e Victoria Azarenka in the quarters.
🍷“I think I served really smart and I was playing well in these conditions, which were really tricky,” Pegula said. “And luckily, I was able to play the controlled, aggressive mentality in the wind and I was kind of able to pressure her.”
Azarenka rallied to defeat Taylor Townsend 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.
Veronika Kudermetova, who won this title in 2021, advanced with a ꧂7-5, 6-1 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia, and will take on seventh-ranked Maria Sakkari, who defeated Astra Sharma 6-4, 6-1.
She said Jabeur is a tricky player with a variety of shots that force her 𝓰opponents to stay mentally ready.
“I have a ꧋little bit of experience w𝓡ith that, so I definitely knew how to handle it, and handled it the best as I could,” Collins said. “Then just stayed mentally resilient.”
Jabeur said she ran 𝐆into a player on a big-time roll.
“It's tough to play players that have confidence and Daniellꦐe is playing really good,” Jabeur saidꦓ.
Jaqueline Cristian, playing Charleston for the first time, defeated her second top-20 player this week. She followed a win over 18th-ranked Madison Keys by beatﷺing No. 20 Emma Navarro 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
Cristian led 5-4 in the second set before Nava🔯rro fought off two match points and took the set. The Romanian quickly shook it off.
“You're ready for it. You live in the present,” Cristian said. “You don't worr♛y about what happened in the second set or the first, just the point itself.”
Cristian, ranked 83rd, will try to upend her third top-20 opponent when she plays 11th-ranked Daria Kasatkina, who beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 6-4🌳.
