In a clash between players who have both recorded their best Grand Slam results in Melbourne, last year’s finalist Danielle Collins edged 2021 semifinalist Karolina Muchova 6-7(1) 6-2 7-6(6) to move into the third round of the 2023 Australian Open.
In the last Wednesday’s match in Margaret Court Arena, the first player to earn a break point was Muchova. The unseeded Czech converted it with a magnificent forehand winner, consolidated the lead with a love hold, and confidently won her third game in a row to go from 2-2 to 5-2.
Just as it looked like Muchova was cruising, Collins managed to crawl back from a double break deficit — the American saved one set point as Muchova was serving for the set at 5-4 and ultimately won four consecutive games to recover from 2-5 to 6-5.
The world No.11 Collins, wearing Alo apparel and Adidas Stella Court Tennis Shoes, couldn’t continue the momentum, though, and was absolutely dominated in the tiebreak. Still, the American regrouped in the second set and recorded breaks in the first and seventh games to relatively comfortably take the match into the decider.
After an exchange of breaks midway through the third set that lasted over an hour, games went with serve and the 13th-seeded Collins eventually recorded victory in a tiebreak.
The 29-year-old Collins has now won 17 matches at the Australian Open, at least twice as many as at any other Grand Slam.
