Defending finalist Danielle Collins survived Karolina Muchova in a tense three-setter in their second-round match at the Australian Open on Wednesday. The American, seeded 13th this time, played last on the Margaret Court Arena in the evening session and needed nearly three hours to secure a 6-7(1), 6-2, 7-6(10-6) win for herself.
Groundstrokes blazed from all parts of the court as both players went for their shots without any hesitation. At times, Collins did struggle to get a rhythm on Muchova’s shot-making and in the first set tie-break, the Czech was able to overpower her completely.
However, from the second set onwards, Collins was able to break through her opponent’s tactics.
Australian Open: Coco Gauff bests Emma Raducanu
In the third set, Collins went up a break in the fifth game but promptly lost it in the sixth.
In the tie-break, the 29-year-old raced away to a quick lead thanks to a couple of mini-breaks. At 7-4 in the tie-break, there was a brief light-hearted moment as Collins celebrated her win thinking she’d won the tie-break and the match.
But while she’d to wait a couple of points longer, the world no. 14 did get to celebrate her win in the eventually. Meanwhile, in the much-heavily anticipated clash between Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu, the seventh-seeded American prevailed 6-3, 7-6(4) in an hour and 42 minutes.
Both players were heavily error-prone throughout the match accounting for a total of 83 unforced errors. In comparison, the Briton finished with 17 winners to the seventh seed’s 13. Raducanu had 10 break-point chances on Gauff’s serve but converted only two of these.
Meanwhile, she dropped serve four times across the match. Lastly, eighth seed Daria Kasatkina lost her first round at the Australian Open. Kasatkina’s fellow countrywoman Varvara Gracheva completed a 6-1, 6-1 routing in merely 54 minutes.
