When American Danielle Collins decided this year was to be her final one on the WTA Tour, she set herself a simple goal but one which has eluded so many— to win one of the big prizes in the sport.
On Saturday, the 30-year-old from St. Petersburg, Florida, got her hands on that top trophy, winning her first WTA 1000 series title, with a straight sets win over world number four Elena Rybakina.
It was an emotional victory for Collins, in front of a home state crowd at her last appearance in Miami as she finally got the high-level success that had eluded her.
“I have always wanted to win every tournament that I have signed up for, but because it was my last year, I was like, I really want to try to win a Masters 1000 this year. That’s really important to me. That’s something that I talked a lot about with everybody close to me,” she said.
“I really wanted to make a push to be able to bring out my best tennis. I’m so glad that I have been able to figure out some of the physical things I have needed to do to kind of peak at the right time and to feel like I’m ready to go.
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