Miami 2024: Collins defeats Rybakina, completes 'dream' run to biggest career title

Danielle Collins authored a fairytale ending to the feel-good story of the WTA season by winning the Miami Open title on Saturday. In her farewell appearance at her home tournament, the 30-year-old claimed the biggest title of her career with a 7-5, 6-3 victory against returning finalist Elena Rybakina.

The St. Petersburg, Fla., native, who plans to retire at the end of 2024, won 14 consecutive sets in Miami to claim her third WTA singles title and her first at the WTA 1000 level. Rybakina fought Collins closer than anyone since Bernarda Pera took the opening set against her in the first round, but the American saved 10 of 11 break points against the 2022 Wimbledon champ and ultimately sealed the title on her fourth match point in front of a raucous Hard Rock Stadium crowd.

"What a dream come true to have played at the level that I have played consistently over the last two weeks," she said in her post-match press conference. "This has been such a journey for me. Thirty years old, this was my first 1000 [final], and it's been a different journey than I think a lot of the stories that we're familiar with."

Collins turned pro in 2016 after a four-year college career in which she won two NCAA singles titles at the University of Virginia. A 2018 Miami semifinalist, she cracked the WTA's Top 25 behind her run to the 2019 Australian Open semis and won titles in San Jose and Palermo in 2021. The following season, Collins advanced to the Aussie Open final—a result that fueled her eventual rise to a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 7 in July 2022.

After a narrow defeat to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at this year's Australian Open, Collins announced this would be her final season on the WTA Tour. Any disappointment from that loss—or her defeat to home favorite Ashleigh Barty in the 2022 AO final—is now a distant memory thanks to her latest triumph.

Against one of the WTA Tour's biggest hitters in Rybakina, Collins matched her opponent's firepower and showcased her athleticism by countering the Kazakhstani's most potent attacks with unrelenting court coverage from the baseline.

From 5-5 in the opening set, Collins won eight of the final 11 games to secure the win in two hours, two minutes. After not losing more than three games in a set since Pera took the opener in their all-American first-round meeting, the veteran rose to the occasion with the pressure ratcheted up.

"Elena was just pushing me all over the court and coming up with hard-hitting shots," Collins said. "I had to do a good job of absorbing, running, getting scrappy at times, trying to get my racquet on the ball, trying to counter and play aggressive."

The win against the world No. 4 was the fifth Top 5 victory of her career. Rybakina was the fifth seeded opponent Collins beat in her Miami run, with previous triumphs against 30th seed Alexandra Potapova, 19th seed Sorana Cirstea, 23rd seed Carolina Garcia and 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.