Collins battles through in another epic

Danielle Collins overcame scorching heat to beat No. 19 seed Elise Mertens 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the Australian Open on Monday.

In match that lasted two hours and 51 minutes, the American 27th seed came from a set down to produce a series of power shots to eventually see off her Belgian opponent.

Mertens, who won the opening set, saved two match points in the third and deciding set before a double fault saw her lose out.

“I think I have my ups and downs during the matches, mentally and physically,” Collins said afterwards.

Elise Mertens in action against Danielle Collins. Photo: KARL WINTER

“Elise was really working me to the max. She’s one of the best anticipators on tour. So sometimes I was having to win the points five, six, seven times.

“Some of the points were incredible. Some of the balls she was getting back and shots I thought were winners, sometimes they weren’t.

“So I had to try to put some pressure on her and come up with some big shots because that’s all you can do against someone who is such a good anticipator.”

Collins became the third American to reach the quarter-finals this year, along with Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys and she will play either Simona Halep or Alizé Cornet for a semi- final spot.

Danielle Collins won the war attrition in scorching temperatures. Photo: Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd

Collins is still playing doubles and admitted it was tough

“I played a long match the other day against Clara Tauson for two and a half hours and then I played doubles, so I spent about five hours on court,” she said.

“I had to make a lot of technical adjustments to make myself comfortable moving around, especially serving.

“That was a big challenge and now I need to focus on getting ready for doubles again.”

Peter Rowe

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