American Danielle Collins continued her late career rich vein of form, winning the WTA Charleston Open clay court title on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Russia’s Daria Kasatkina.
The victory comes a week after Collins enjoyed the biggest win of her career, clinching the Miami Open 1000 hard court title and her back-to-back wins means she will move up to 15th in the world rankings.
The 30-year-old Collins has announced that she will retire from the sport at the end of this season but has found herself playing in the form of her life and has extended her winning streak to 13 matches.
Kasatkina, the 2017 winner in Charleston, reached the final after a three-set semi-final win over top seed Jessica Pegula but Collins proved to be a step too far. Collins, who defeated Greece’s Maria Sakkari in her semi, needed just 77 minutes to defeat Kasatkina and the contest moved decisively in her direction when she broke to go 2-0 up in the second set, celebrating with a forceful first-pump.—AFP
