Danielle Collins wins Miami Open title
FLORIDA: Unseeded American Danielle Collins ousted No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 to win the WTA 1000 Miami Open, the highest title of her career. In a fierce 2-hour and 2-minute display of power hitting by both players, 30-year-old Collins won her third career WTA singles title, her first WTA 1000 title and her first title at any level since 2021. She has won 17 of her last 21 matches and with a win on Saturday night, the American will move up to world No. 22 next week. Collins became the first American woman to win the Miami Open title since Sloane Stephens in 2018. She becomes the sixth American woman overall to win the crown, following Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, three-time champion Venus Williams, eight-time champion Serena Williams and Stephens. He has maintained his decision to retire at the end of this season due to off-court health problems. She has not set a date for her retirement from professional tennis and plans to play at least until the US Open. Collins told the tournament website, “To go out today and the energy I felt from the fans and literally feeling like I was playing in front of thousands of my best friends, it was amazing, it was absolutely surreal. I look forward to this day.” I’ll never forget.” Collins revealed that her plans for last season included winning the WTA 1000, and the fact that she would not be playing professional tennis. She added, “I think I played so well today and One of the reasons it worked well was because my mindset was that I was going to enjoy every minute of it. This is my last year, this is my last season, and these are some of my last events. I want to remember these moments.