Collins takes down Osaka in Abu Dhabi opener; to face Rybakina next

Danielle Collins secured a 7-5, 6-0 victory Tuesday over wild card Naomi Osaka by winning the final nine games of their first-round match at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.

Osaka, who was up 5-4 in the first set, came into the match holding a 3-1 record over Collins -- but the one loss had been in their most recent meeting at the 2022 US Open. 

The two players are embarking on the 2024 season at different points of their careers. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion and is seeking to regain her position at the top of the game following maternity leave. Three tournaments into her comeback, she has compiled a 1-3 record and is ranked No.757. Collins, a former Australian Open runner-up, announced this will be her final season on tour after falling to Iga Swiatek in the second round of Melbourne this year. 

The result was Collins' first main-draw victory in her second appearance in Abu Dhabi. She moves on to face No.1 seed Elena Rybakina in the second round. Rybakina holds a 2-1 head-to-head overall.

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How the match was won: The contest began as a serve-dominated affair. Fifteen of the first 16 points were won by the server, the only exception being an Osaka double fault in the first game. The first 10 games passed without either player managing to reach break point.

At 5-5, Collins broke the pattern, targeting the Osaka backhand, which had begun to leak a few errors. The American converted her second chance with a forehand winner and a game later sealed her fourth set point with a backhand one-two punch.

Osaka's serving numbers plummeted in the second set. She had dropped just two points behind her first delivery in the opener but managed to win only three points total on serve in the second set -- and none behind her second serve. By contrast, Collins kept the efficacy of her first serve high, conceding only two points behind it in the first set and three in the second.

Osaka had her moments in the second set even as the match slipped away from her. A lob at full stretch in the fourth game was the shot of the contest. But Collins was consistently excellent, saving triple break point to escape that game and sealing the 1-hour, 23-minute victory with a love hold.

In Collins's words: "I knew what to expect against Naomi. I know she's been out for a little while and is just coming back, but I had to lean into my tactics and rely on that: mixing the targets well, going through the visualizations that we do as athletes. This is one of the better matches I've served this year, which I've been working on.

"I still feel like I'm in good form, even though this is my last year. I needed an end date -- I've enjoyed my time on tour and had some amazing experiences that I wouldn't have had otherwise. But right now, it's not over yet. I'm still competing and battling and working at it, and I still have some goals I want to accomplish."

Jabeur, Osaka fall in doubles: Osaka returned to Stadium Court later in the evening, teaming up in doubles with another player who has spent a lot of time inside the Top 10, Ons Jabeur.

Despite some expectedly excellent hands by Jabeur, Magda Linette and Bernarda Pera defeated Jabeur and Osaka, 6-3, 6-3.

Seed report: Two seeded players contested the nighttime singles matches on Stadium Court, with differing results. No.8 seed Liudmila Samsonova breezed past Lesia Tsurenko 6-0, 6-1 in under an hour. But British qualifier Heather Watson ousted No.9 seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 7-5.

Highlights: Sorribes Tormo d. Noskova | Linette d. Eala | Watson d. Kudermetova

Linette, Sorribes Tormo advance: Former Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette notched her second victory of 2024, advancing 7-6(4), 6-1 over Filipina wild card Alexandra Eala in 1 hour and 51 minutes. Eala, 18, falls to 1-9 in WTA main draws since making her debut at Cluj-Napoca 2021.

Lucky loser Sara Sorribes Tormo delivered an upset of Australian Open quarterfinalist Linda Noskova, coming through 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Noskova's upset of World No.1 Swiatek in Melbourne had been one of the biggest upsets of January, but the 19-year-old Czech was outlasted by Sorribes Tormo in 2 hours and 9 minutes.