10 on the trot: American Danielle Collins wins second consecutive title, defeating Daria Kasatkina at San Jose

Danielle Collins has forgotten how to lose this summer on the WTA Tour. The 27-year-old Florida native entered this summer having never won a WTA title – she hadn’t even been to a final – but after a successful run to her maiden title on the clay in Palermo last month, Collins has parlayed the confidence gained into a second straight triumph this week at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, California.

On a sunny Sunday in northern California, Collins had to scratch and claw to get past Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, the 25-year-old herself in the midst of an impressive season that has seen her reach four finals and claim two titles. But the American eventually came through to notch a 6-3, 6-7(10), 6-1 victory to push her career-best winning streak to ten matches.

A pressure cooker in set two

Collins wrapped up her victory in two hours and 18 minutes, but she had hoped to get off the court in much shorter order. She held a pair of championship points with Kasatkina serving to stay alive at 15-40, 3-5, but the Russian was impervious to the pressure. She held for 4-5, broke for 5-5, then saved three more championship points as she came through a dramatic tiebreaker, converting her fourth set point to level the match and force a decider.

Collins finishes with a bang

The American could have easily hung her head after squandering so many chances to close out the final in straight sets, but she refused to yield. If Collins was hesitant in the waning moments of the second set she was exactly the opposite in the third set. She simply took the racquet out of Kasatkina’s hand with drop dead power, rifling winners and staying on the front foot as she concluded the match much in the same fashion that she had closed out the opening set.

Collins had commenced the contest by winning the final nine points of the first set. With Kasatkina reeling and trailing 3-1 in the third set, the American took eight of the final nine points to finish off her victory with an exclamation point.

Collins improves to 22-9 on the season and 15-5 on hard courts, while Kasatkina drops to 30-13 and 18-5 in three-set matches.

Rankings rise

Collins will break back into the top-30 in Monday’s WTA ranking, rising to a projected 28, which is five spots shy of her career-high 23. Kasatkina, a former world No 10, jumps from 31 to 27.