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Daniel Collins won perhaps the biggest title of his career on Saturday.
CNN
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Daniel Collins enjoyed a fairytale Miami Open this week, winning one of the biggest titles of his career and achieving one of his major goals before retiring at the end of the season.
The 30-year-old American, who reached the 2022 Australian Open final, defeated fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina in Saturday's final to claim her first WTA 1000 title and first title at any level since 2021. did.
Collins has endured much adversity over the years, battling numerous health issues including rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis, and announced in January that she would be calling her farewell season.
Despite this, she has achieved many things in her career, including at one point being the seventh-ranked American female athlete in the world and the highest-ranked American female athlete.
“I’ve always wanted to win every tournament I signed up for, but this is my last year so I really want to win. [WTA] 1,000 this year, according to the WTA,” Collins said afterward. “That's something that's really important to me. It's something that I talked about a lot with everyone close to me.”
Collins, currently ranked 53rd in the world, displayed an intimidating play with powerful hitting, becoming the lowest-ranked women's Miami Open champion in history.
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Collins defeated 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the Miami Open final.
During the even set, she saved four break points to hold serve at 4-3, then saved another break point at 5-5 to keep the pressure on Rybakina.
Then, as Kazakhstan faltered and conceded three set points at 6-5, Collins stormed out to take the first set.
The second set was similarly close, with both players exchanging breaks of serve, Rybakina killing two break points and Collins converting a break point to take a 5-3 lead. She clinched the victory shortly after on her fourth match point.
Playing on his home field, the Floridian was treated to a roaring crowd that made him feel like he was “playing in front of thousands of my best friends.”
“It was just surreal,” she said, according to WTA. “I'll never forget that day.”
She became the sixth American woman to win the Miami Open, joining Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens.
Despite his success in Miami, Collins said he has no intention of reconsidering his decision to retire.
“I feel like all these questions are coming from a very good place because a lot of people want to continue to see me play well,” she told Sky Sports.
“But like I said, I have some health issues and those health issues make it a little difficult for me to be off the court. I hope everyone can respect that. It's very emotional and personal.”
