Iga Swiatek, the world number one, bounced back after being broken twice in the final set to defeat Danielle Collins 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Thursday, reaching the third round of the Australian Open for the fifth consecutive year. Although Collins is ranked 62nd, she has a good record at Melbourne Park, having defeated Swiatek in the semifinals two years ago before losing to Ashleigh Barty in the final.
Swiatek, a four-time Grand Slam champion, typically performs well against lower-ranked players, but she had to put in a lot of effort to overcome Collins in a thrilling yet tense three-hour match on Rod Laver Arena. The 30-year-old Collins struggled with her serve at crucial moments in the match, while Swiatek found her best form toward the end of the deciding set, qualifying to face Czech player Linda Nusskova in the third round.
Swiatek, whose best performance in Melbourne Park was reaching the semifinals in 2022, said, "Oh my God, honestly, I was already at the airport. I wanted to fight until the end. She (Collins) played perfectly, but it will be hard for any player to maintain that level, so I wanted to be ready when the mistakes came from the other side. I wanted to press at that time, and I did it in the end, and I am really proud of myself because it wasn't easy."
Collins succeeded in breaking Swiatek's serve to lead 3-1 in the first set, but the Polish player responded strongly and broke her opponent's serve in a game where Collins failed to win any points, leveling the score at 3-3 when heavy rain stopped the match for half an hour for the roof to close. When play resumed, Swiatek came back strongly, winning four consecutive games to take the first set and broke her opponent's serve again in the second.
It seemed Collins was propelled to increase the pace of her groundstrokes and won the next five games to take the second set. Swiatek noted, "I felt like I had the momentum, and she suddenly started playing faster twice. I had no idea how to respond to that for two games, but I came back and thought that the only thing I could focus on was myself."
Five double faults helped Swiatek save four set points, and she saved another point on her serve before Collins won the set on her sixth attempt, leveling the match at 1-1 after more than two hours on the court. Collins was not finished yet, as breaking her opponent's serve twice allowed her to lead 4-1 in the final set, but that was the best she would achieve as she exited the court directly after the match and later announced her retirement for this year.
Collins said, "I lost 6-4 in the third set to one of the best players in the world. I played great and gave it my all on the court. I don't really know when exactly, but this will be my last season, and I'm really looking forward to it." Collins saved two match points in the final game, but Swiatek clinched the victory when she seized a short ball from Collins at the net and hit a powerful backhand down the sideline.
