World No. 56 Danielle Collins has been made to work extremely hard for points at the 2024 Indian Wells Open. The American starts her campaign against World No. 98 Erika Andreeva in what is her final appearance at the tournament.
The 30-year-old has already confirmed she will retire at the end of the season. While she turned Pro in 2016, she played a lot of tennis at the collegiate level. But the American is tired of constant traveling and wants to spend more time with her family, which formed the base of her decision.
Hoping to bow out with some big wins, Andreeva has made life difficult for her in the Tennis Garden. The first set went into the tiebreaker, but Collins secured the win, nonetheless. The second set has been similarly closer as the 19-year-old Russian refuses to back down.
With the constant pressure, Collins had a mini-meltdown but controlled it before things got out of hand. In the fifth game of the second set with the score tied at 4-4, Collins was down a breakpoint. To make matters worse, she lost the point owing to a double fault.
Visibly frustrated with her mistake, she screamed and almost smashed her racket on the court. But she held back her hand and started to walk towards her bench. As she was approaching, she quickly turned towards the stand, possibly to her box, and gave a two-word reaction with a straight face.
SHUT UP. Said Collins trying to control her anger.
Rain suspends the action as Danielle Collins got closer to victory
Trailing 4-5 in the second set, Collins needed to earn that breakpoint back immediately. With Andreeva serving for the set, the American brought out her clutch game and made things even at 5-5.
She then put all the pressure back on the Russian teen as she held her serve. This saw her take a lead of 6-5 taking her one game away from winning the match. But an untimely rain suspended the action on Court 3.
The action has been further suspended as dark clouds have taken over. With matches suspended for more than an hour, the official update has further pushed back the proceedings.
The tournament organizers can only hope they get to start at the right time. With players constantly complaining due to packed schedules, rain delays don’t help any of the parties involved.
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