JAKARTA - American Danielle Collins took advantage of the opportunity to win the Miami Open title, Saturday local time or Sunday WIB, beating Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3 to claim her first WTA 1000 title in her final season on the tour.
Collins, ranked 53 in the world, is the lowest-ranked female player to ever win the tournament, earning her biggest career title in a two-hour win.
The 30-year-old in January announced that he would retire from tennis by the end of this year, and his unexpected trip to the final as well as a win over world number four makes the hosts happy.
"I can't think of a better way to win my first 1000 title. That means a lot to me," Collins was quoted as saying by ANTARA, Sunday, March 31.
While he has no indication that his recent performance will see him reconsider his departure from tennis, he will rise to 22th in the new WTA rankings on Monday.
It was the second consecutive disappointing defeat in the Miami final to Rybakina, who lost to Petra Kvitova last year.
Both players looked strong in their service at the start, but original Florida Collins had to work harder to keep his serve.
He saved four break points as he held for 4-3 and showed another fight to thwart a break point at 5-5 with a brilliant backhand after a long rally.
Collins broke his serve at the end of the first set, using a third break point to win the set when Rybakina took a long hit.
Then the momentum shifted towards Collins when he broke Rybakina's first game service in the second set.
The 24-year-old Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, responded by counterattacking on the first occasion.
No one was really able to dominate, but Collins gave a crushing blow when he took a 5-3 lead when Rybakina took a long shot at baseline.
Collins showed his nervousness at the end of the game as he struggled to serve, failed in two break points, but finally won fourth place in the match.
"It's hard," said Collins.
"There are supporters who support and encourage you to finish it and they really want me to win. It feels like playing in front of my best friends and I don't want to disappoint the audience and it's difficult."
"Elena didn't give up and she kept swinging the punch to the right and to the left, I just had to stay there." he said again.
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Collins became the first American women to take home the Miami Open title sincetengh Stephens in 2018 and sixth overall, joining Martina Navivartilova, Chris Evert, three-time champion Venus Williams, and eight-time champion Serena Williams.
The women's lowest-ranked champion was Kim Clijsters, who was ranked 38th when she won the title in 2005.
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