No Excuses: Red-hot Aryna Sabalenka defeats dangerous Danielle Collins

TenniStory: Danielle Collins

NEW YORK—Aryna Sabalenka, the 26th seed at the US Open, could have trotted a number of perfectly legitimate excuses had she lost her first-round match on Tuesday. Three days ago, the 20-year-old won her fourth match in four days to claim her first career WTA title, in New Haven. After losing her first three WTA finals, she was susceptible to a letdown in New York.

She was also susceptible to fatigue—which was only exacerbated by soul-melting heat that neared 100 degrees and enveloped Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

On top of that, Sabalenka’s opponent was one of the toughest unseeded players in the draw, 37th-ranked Danielle Collins, the NCAA tennis star whose professional career was transformed this spring by a fourth-round run at Indian Wells and a final four berth at the Miami Open. Buoyed by pro-American crowds at both tour stops, Collins had plenty of support on cozy Court 5, one of the most intimate viewing areas for fans at the refurbished USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Aryna Sabalenka has zoomed up the rankings thanks to her success on hard courts. (Photos by Anita Aguilar)

When Sabalenka won the first set 6-0, all of those excuses seemed unnecessary. The sunken court appeared too small for the hard-hitting Belarusian's giant game, which frustrated the emotive Collins throughout the afternoon. But while Sabalenka’s advantage on the scoreboard was sizable, Collins wasn't being overwhelmed, and she was never cowed by her uber-talented adversary. In a constant battle to control the baseline, both players took the offensive at any opportunity, Collins with flat forehands and backhands; Sabalenka with more spin on her shots but similar pace and depth. On service games, the threat of the returner—there were return winners aplenty—simply inspired each player to go for more. Both touched 110 m.p.h. on first serves, and each won 15 rallies which lasted between five and eight shots.

And after nothing went right for Collins in the first set, her superb form turned the tables in the second set. After winning just 18 percent of her second-serve points in the first set, Collins improved that number to 78 percent in the second, and she broke Sabalenka twice to help force a decider. Her emotions continued to run high, but this time the crowd was able to join her in exultation.

Danielle Collins had plenty of support from a packed Court 5.

It was impossible to ignore the heat during this match, and both players mercifully took a 10-minute break before the third set began. But while the conditions were oppressive from first ball to last, this was a contest of skill, rather than will, a testament to both women's physical and mental strength. The inexorable progression of the tournament will render Day 2 a mere footnote just a few days from now. But I'm confident that few matches still to come will equal or surpass this one in quality, on what was one of the most uncomfortable days for players and fans to endure.

When Collins took a 2-0 lead in the third, I was reminded of the excuses Sabalenka could use to explain her sudden plight. But as we’ve seen this summer, it takes something special to defeat this clearly special talent on hard courts. Sabalenka has won nine of her last 10 matches, the only loss coming to world No. 1 Simona Halep.

Suddenly, the shots Sabalenka had been missing over the previous 30 minutes were hitting their targets. She was winning the backhand-to-backhand rallies she was so willing to engage in during the first set. Yes, Collins made more errors in dropping the next four games, but the great majority of these mistakes were forced by Sabalenka’s top-shelf groundstrokes, impressive court coverage and preternatural confidence.

After an exchange of breaks, Sabalenka earned a match point at 5-3. When she answered Collins' lob with one of her own, the crowd favorite did that shot one better, and kept the match going:

Was it just not to be for Sabalenka? The save was one more excuse that she could have used. But on this day, no excuse was good enough for her.

Sabalenka was broken, but not beaten, and she earned her second match point returning at 5-4. Somehow, she managed to one-up Collins’ match-point magic with her own slice of tennis sorcery:

Sabalenka fell to the searing surface a winner; Collins walked across the net having won over even more fans across the country. And those fans in attendance on this brutal day walked away seeing something beautiful.

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