Danielle Collins bested Elena Rybakina in the Miami Open final, but she admitted it wasn't easy calling her opponent a 'monster'.
This matchup was a trick one for the American because Rybakina is just an amazing player. They had actually played a couple of weeks before this match, and the Kazakhstani player won that one, albeit in three sets. Collins wasn't without chance because this WTA 1000 event wasn't the easiest for Rybakina, and she looked very beatable in the previous rounds, but the American still had to work really hard.
What makes the Kazakhstani player particularly tough in Miami is her serve. It's an event where serves do a lot of damage, and her serve can be as devastating as any. Speaking after beating her in the final, Collins admitted that it was tough to break her. She needed a lot of patience, and ultimately, she was glad that she was able to pull it off.
“I mean, it’s really tough. Elena [Rybakina] is not an easy person to break. Those are some big serves coming in. She is a monster out there and it’s like that for everybody. And I had to be really patient with myself. I had to give myself targets. I had to have a plan.”
Rybakina herself lamented her physical shape a few days ago, admitting that she wasn't in the best of shape, which clearly impacted her play. She still played a pretty good match, and Collins had to give everything in every single point just to be able to compete with her.
The key for Collins was returning really well, which she attributed to her effort and just a lot of preparation tactically.
“Every time I walked up to that baseline, I can definitely say I showed up every single point, even the ones that she painted the lines and was going for it. I was really thinking about a lot tactically and technically, and it forced me to return at a high level, and I think that’s why I returned so well.”
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