Seed No.27 Danielle Collins put on a solid performance against seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek 6-4 6-1 to reach her first Grand Slam final at the 2022 Australian Open.
The world No.30 Collins confidently opened her Thursday’s semifinal with a 4-0 lead and even though Swiatek won four of the next five games, the aggressive American smoothly wrapped up the set.
In the second set, Collins continued to assert her dominance, again racing to a 4-0 lead, as Swiatek’s points won on second serve remained extremely low, just 12%. Probably drained from her yesterday’s marathon against Kaia Kanepi, the longest match of her career, the 2020 Roland Garros champion Swiatek was not even close to challenging Collins in the second set and the American triumphed in one hour and 18 minutes.
Swiatek, who had defeated Collins during her title run at the 2021 Adelaide International, won just three out of 21 points on her second serve in Rod Laver Arena.
The 28-year-old Collins is now projected to break into the Top 10 and claim US No.1 ranking. Her opponent in the Australian Open final will be home favorite and WTA world No.1 Ashleigh Barty, who raced past American Madison Keys in the previous semifinal.
