Danielle Collins continues her crazy season. After announcing that 2024 would be her last on the circuit, due to pain caused by endometriosis – a chronic inflammatory disease linked to menstrual cycles -, the 30-year-old American defeated in two sets (7-6 [3], 6-2) the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, in the semi-finals of the WTA 500 in Strasbourg, this Friday. Which allows him to reach the final of the Alsatian tournament, his third this season after those won in Miami and Charleston.
She will face her compatriot Madison Keys, winner of the Russian Liudmila Samsonova. Note that her opponent in the semi-finals, Kalinina, had qualified in the last four, at the expense of the 6th in the world Marketa Vondrousova… the same morning, because of the rain which had interrupted the match.
The fact remains that this qualification for the final constitutes a new performance for Collins who seems to be in the form of his life since the announcement of his upcoming retirement from sport. Before this year, she had only reached three finals, for two victories (WTA 250 in Palermo and WTA 500 in San José in 2021) and one defeat (Australian Open 2022). This new final will further improve her WTA ranking in the next update: 69th in the world in January, the American is now in 12th place and should enter the top 10 on Monday, not far from the 7th place she had reached at its best, in 2022.
Keys qualified in three stages
Not yet titled in 2024, Keys qualified for her first final this year after dismissing Samsonova in two sets (6-1, 6-3) and 1h18. If this match seems of a rather classic length, it still had to take place in three rounds. This was due to repeated bad weather which forced the players to return to the locker room twice.
These two interruptions took place, one for a storm, the other for rain, but they did not prevent Keys, a former Grand Slam finalist (at the US Open in 2017), from following her score and to qualify for the final. Which solidifies his great season on earth (semi-final in Madrid, quarter-final in Rome) a few days before the start of Roland-Garros. Conversely, Samsonova (25 years old) hardly existed on Alsatian clay, accumulating unforced errors and being very inconsistent.
2024-05-24 19:18:41
#Danielle #Collins #Madison #Keys #final #Strasbourg
