It says a lot about Danielle Collins that she is competing in Montreal at all.
It is barely a year since the 29-year-old American, buoyed by a run to the Australian Open final, reached a career-high ranking of seventh. Collins has since dropped to 48th, which meant she missed the cut for the Canadian Open main draw by just one place.
A less steely competitor might have baulked at facing the crucible of qualifying for the first time in more than four and a half years. Collins, though, has never been one to shirk a challenge, and having battled through a pair of tough three-setters against Eugenie Bouchard and Emina Bektas to make the starting line for the WTA 1000 event, she has wasted no time in reminding the field of her enduring quality.
Through to a third quarter-final of the season after seeing off Elina Svitolina, Maria Sakkari and Leylah Fernandez in straight sets, Collins has hit a rich vein of form just in time to face Iga Swiatek, the Polish world No 1.
For a player who arrived in Montreal with just two wins from the eight matches she had played since early March, it has been quite a resurgence – one all the more impressive for the fact that, seeking to bring greater balance to her life and eager to prioritise her health, she has elected to play a more limited schedule this season. Collins believes playing qualifying has been a blessing in disguise.
“I said last week after I lost in DC [to Liudmila Samsonova], I really just need to get more matches and time on the court, and I certainly got that in the qualifying playing two hard three-set matches and now feeling really in rhythm,” said Collins following her 6-2, 6-3 win over Fernandez.
“I feel like this year, partly because I play a shortened schedule, sometimes I go into the tournaments where I haven’t played a lot, and I can do really well, and other times it’s hard to kind of get that match momentum.
“What’s really been key is just getting more matches. I’ve been working so hard at my game over the last couple of years, and sometimes it takes a little bit of time to kind of see those results. I think that’s certainly what is happening.”
No less significant has been the influence of Jared Jacobs, the experienced American coach whose roster of clients has included Natasha Zvereva, a former French Open finalist and 18-time grand slam doubles champion, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Jacobs has rapidly become not only a trusted technical and tactical confidante, but also a friend with whom she has been able to share museum visits and pedicures.
“For so much of my career, I travelled by myself without a coach, and I had a little bit of success doing that,” said Collins.
“But I think it’s been huge having Jared a part of my team and being there for me and helping me evolve my game and evolve mentally. I feel like all of the things that he’s been bringing to the table and holding me accountable for is really helping me get some better results on the court.”
Over the course of a rain-lashed week in Montreal, Collins’s singularity as a character and a competitor has stood out. She has talked animatedly of a trip to the cinema with Jacobs to see the new Barbie movie – “I could really relate to weird Barbie, that was my doll” – and made headlines after a confrontational exchange with Sakkari.
The latter incident occurred after Sakkari swiped a ball into the crowd in frustration, prompting Collins to query whether the umpire had witnessed the Greek’s transgression. “It didn’t even hit anyone,” shouted Sakkari to the other end of the court. “It was on the ground.” Collins, more interested in preparing to return a second serve, quickly closed down both the conversation and, before long, the match. “Shut your mouth,” she retorted. “Shut your mouth.”
Abrasive? Certainly. But then Collins has never been afraid to ruffle a few feathers, and the women’s game has been all the better for it.
Whether she can now silence Swiatek, who came through a repeat of this summer’s French Open final against Karolina Muchova 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, is another question. When the pair faced each other in Qatar six months ago, Swiatek avenged her defeat to the American in last year’s Australian Open semi-finals in emphatic fashion. Collins, who came away with just one game to show for her troubles that day, is aware of the enormity of the task. Yet she is in no mood to relinquish the momentum she has established.
“The first time went better than the second time, so just fingers crossed that I bring my A-game and put on a good show for everyone,” said Collins. “It’s been a great week, and I’ve had a lot of matches. I’m hoping to keep the level up.”