Player of the Day: Danielle Collins

WATCH: Danielle Collins (USA) def. Elise Mertens (BEL) in the 2022 Australian Open fourth-round match.

Collins's Vitals

• Age: 28
• Birthplace: St. Petersburg, FL, USA
• Turned Pro: 2016
• Highest Ranking: 23 (1/28/19)
• Racquet: Babolat Pure Aero (Click to purchase on TennisPoint)

On a sweltering Monday in Melbourne, No. 27 seed Danielle Collins “rode out the storm” against No. 19 Elise Mertens to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in two years.

The American has logged some serious time on court in the first week of the Australian Open, and coming into her fourth-round match she was still in contention in both singles and doubles alongside Desirae Krawczyk. Between both, she had spent about five hours on court in the previous round.

So it was no surprise that, on one of the hottest days of the tournament, 2019 semifinalist Collins was equally under attack by her determined opponent Mertens and by physical struggles. By the time they were deep in the third set, Collins had taken to standing by her chair during changeovers rather than sitting. “I thought that if I sat down, I wasn’t going to be able to get back up again,” she explained after her 4-6 6-4 6-4 comeback win against Mertens.

“I think to do well in these events, you kind of have to ride out the storm,” Collins reflected in her post-match press conference. “You have moments where you're playing some of your best tennis. Sometimes you lose your rhythm. Sometimes you're dealing with some little pestering aches and pains. Sometimes you're dealing with physical conditions, with weather.

“I try to just ride it out as much as possible. I love watching professional surfing, and I really admire what they do—how they get up on the board, how they deal with all the elements—so I use that as an analogy in my head a lot.”

One of three American women in the quarterfinals alongside Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula, Collins will next face first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Alize Cornet for a place in the last four.