Collins: Savor Each Stage

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, March 31, 2024

Danielle Collins was combating again tears earlier than she even struck a shot within the Miami Open remaining.

Seeing her childhood tennis hero, Corridor of Famer Andre Agassi, sitting courtside within the entrance row was such a shifting second it put Collins “close to tears” she conceded. 

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By the tip of her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Elena Rybakina within the Miami Open remaining, Collins was pinching again tears of pleasure.

The 53rd-ranked Collins denied 10 of 11 break factors turning into the lowest-ranked Miami Open champion in historical past and first American girl to win Miami since fellow Floridian Sloane Stephens in 2018.

In her remaining season on the WTA Tour, Collins captured her greatest title in her farewell to her residence match.

Finality has heightened Collins’ dedication to savor each expertise on this curtain name season.

“These are some, like, actually particular moments. I do not wish to be so centered on all the things else the place I do not get to form of take it in,” Collins instructed the media in Miami. “I actually assume, like, a part of the explanation why I performed so nicely and did an excellent job at the moment was as a result of I had that mentality of, like, I will take pleasure in each minute of this. That is my final yr, that is my final season, and these are a few of my remaining occasions. I wish to bear in mind these moments.”

The previous all-American absorbed all of it after accumulating her first WTA 1000 title. Collins spent a number of minutes afterwards signing autographs and taking selfies together with her followers who cheered on her impressed title run.

The profession end line in sight, Collins is dedicated to having fun with each stage of her tennis journey.

“I do look again on typically totally different levels of my profession, and be like, wow, that is form of a blur and I do not actually bear in mind it that a lot,” Collins mentioned. “It would not actually appear that way back while you say, oh, 4 years or six years, however in lots of methods it may really feel like an eternity.

“I am simply making an attempt to get higher at taking it in.”

Picture credit score: Miami Open/Exhausting Rock Stadium