Danielle Collins pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the 2024 tennis season on Saturday, defeating World No. 2 Iga Swiatek 6–1, 7–5 in the third round of the Italian Open at Foro Italico.
Coming into the match, Collins had lost seven of her eight previous meetings with the four-time Grand Slam champion. But this time, she delivered a dominant performance from start to finish.
“After losing to Iga so many times, you learn from those experiences,” said the 29th seed. “Even though she beat me the last couple of times, I played some of my best tennis in those matches. That gave me confidence.”
Collins’ aggressive game paid off. She struck 32 winners and committed just 15 unforced errors, while Swiatek hit only 15 winners and made 22 errors. Collins converted six of her eight break-point chances, including a perfect 5-for-5 start. In contrast, Swiatek only managed two breaks from ten opportunities.
“Sometimes my style can go either way,” Collins said after the match. “But today I trusted myself in the big moments and went after my shots.”
Swiatek, the three-time Rome champion and one of the most dominant clay-court players in recent history, had won 21 of her last 22 matches at the tournament before Saturday. She had also reached the Round of 16 in 26 consecutive WTA 1000 events — a streak that now comes to an end.
Her serve was a key problem. In the first set, she double-faulted twice on break points and won just five points on serve over four games. She showed brief signs of recovery in the second set, saving a match point and holding for 4-all. But Collins kept up the pressure and closed the match on her third match point, as a Swiatek backhand sailed wide.
With the loss, Swiatek drops in the WTA rankings. She is expected to fall to No. 4 or possibly No. 5 depending on other results in Rome. It’s her ninth defeat of the season — equaling her total from all of 2023.
For Collins, it was a major milestone. This was her first Top 10 win in more than a year and her third career victory over a Top 2 player. She previously beat Ashleigh Barty in Adelaide (2021) and Angelique Kerber at the 2019 Australian Open.
Next, Collins will face No. 16 seed Elina Svitolina in the fourth round.
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