Of all the opponents Simona Halep could have faced on her return from a three-month injury layoff, Danielle Collins would have been among the least welcome names on the draw sheet. Opening assignments don’t come much tougher right now than Collins, a player high on confidence after back-to-back tournament victories, and a determined, resourceful performance was not quite enough for Halep as the American edged a fiercely competitive contest 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Collins has thrived of late on an ability to impose her powerful baseline game on all-comers, but Halep represented a step up in class compared with the players she had vanquished to win titles in Palermo and San Jose.
The former world No 1 delivered a masterclass in the opening set, her movement, defensive skills and tactical nous apparently undiminished by her lengthy absence as she stretched Collins from corner to corner, drawing her out of her strike zone and denying her the chance to dictate off the ground.
But if anyone can match Halep for willpower and stubborn resistance, it is Collins. With every rally ferociously contested, the powerful Floridian forced her way back into the match, returning with greater aggression and steadily improving on serve as the Romanian struggled to maintain her initial level.
It was a match of countless momentum shifts – the players shared a remarkable 14 breaks of serve between them – and by the end an uncharacteristically subdued Collins was physically and emotionally spent. Trailing 3-2 in the decider, she had left the court for a medical timeout after twice hyperextending her knee, which triggered pain in her left thigh and hip.
Halep was unhappy about the length and timing of the delay. “It was tough for me, because after two hours and a half, to get more than 10 minutes’ break is not fair before the serve,” said the sixth seed. “I think this rule is not good at all. But some players, when they don’t trust they can win with the game, they ask the medicals. Then they run better than before.”
Collins’ discomfort was clear, however, not least in the final game of the match, when she seemed to check out of a rally on her third match point, attempting an inopportune drop shot before clutching at her hip. Yet the American has become inured to physical suffering. After dealing with debilitating pain for five years, Collins underwent surgery for endometriosis in April, doctors removing a cyst the size of a tennis ball from her ovary. She also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Determined not to lose another opportunity to injury, she kept battling and was finally rewarded with victory on her fifth match point.
“I played so many matches, it was just unbearable for me to think of going out of the match after playing nearly two and a half hours on court,” said a clearly emotional Collins at courtside. “It’s just not in my spirit to pull out of matches, and I’ve pulled out of so many this year, and I just really wanted to try and finish the match, win or lose.”
Collins, who is currently travelling without a coach, will now face compatriot Jessica Pegula, a three-set winner over 10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. “I can’t remember when I played this many matches,” she added. “It’s been a long couple of weeks, especially on my own. Today was obviously really painful toward the end, so I was just lucky that I got through it.”
Defeat notwithstanding, it was an encouraging comeback for Halep, who entered the tournament with low expectations as she returned to action for the first time since tearing a calf muscle against Angelique Kerber in Rome. The injury forced Halep to miss the French Open, preventing her from defending her Wimbledon title and competing in the Olympics, and resulted in her falling out of the top 10 for the first time in seven years.
Offering an upbeat assessment of her performance, the 13th-ranked Halep said: “I am very, let’s say, positive about how I played today. [It was] a little bit unexpected, because after three months that you cannot play much tennis, you come and play three hours at a very high level with someone that is winning lately matches and tournaments. So I’m really happy with the way I played.
“I’m very happy with the way I played. She was hitting very strong, and I was able to stay there and to return the balls, open the court in a good way. I can say that I felt tired in the end. Maybe this aspect has to be improved. But with matches I am very sure that it will come back, and I will be much stronger physically. Today, I think I got a little bit down in the end, and I didn’t have enough energy to play better tennis.”
The top seed, Aryna Sabalenka, earlier survived a scare to see off former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4. Sabalenka started at a lick, opening up a commanding 4-1 lead before Stephens reeled off three consecutive games to level. The 70th-ranked American went on to save a set point in the tenth game, and although Sabalenka eventually closed out the set on a tiebreak, Stephens, having now come to terms with the Belarusian’s power, won five games in a row from 4-4 in the second set to stand on the brink of a major upset. Sabalenka was 4-1 down in the decider before she belatedly roused herself to see out the victory.
“It was a tough match,” said Sabalenka. “She pushed me like crazy … I was already in the locker room, thinking what was going to happen next – doubles here, planning for the next weeks. I don’t know if that’s why I cooled down, and I was just playing and didn’t think about anything else.”
There was no such luck for Elina Svitolina, the third seed and Olympic bronze medallist, who was beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 by Britain’s Johanna Konta. “That was definitely not an easy match,” said Konta of a a player who had become her personal nemesis, winning each of their five previous meetings. “I’ve never beaten her in my career, so for me personally, this was a massive win. She’s probably the toughest player for me on tour, so I’m quite pleased with myself.”