American Danielle Collins advanced to her first career WTA 1000 final with a 6-3, 6-2 win over No.14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Thursday night at the Miami Open. 

The 2022 Australian Open finalist, unseeded in this tournament in what she's said is her final year on the Hologic WTA Tour, will face No.4 seed Elena Rybakina for the title at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday. Collins has won two titles previously in her career, both in 2021.

"This feels like a really big accomplishment," Collins said. "I think all of us want to make finals of 1000-level tournaments. These are our biggest tournaments of the year, aside from the Grand Slams.

"This is just so special. I can't stress it enough about being in my home state and having my dog here, friends, family. It's really special."

Collins needed just 75 minutes to dispatch Alexandrova, who beat World No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.5 seed Jessica Pegula en route to her first semifinal in Miami, and become the second-lowest ranked Miami finalist behind only Naomi Osaka, who was No.77 when she reached the final in 2022.

"I've had a couple of good years here, but this is definitely the most memorable," Florida native Collins said afterwards, recalling memories of visiting the tournament as a child.

"I followed all of [Alexandrova's] matches this tournament, and it was so fun watching her. We have a similar game style, so it's tricky when it's like that. Because of that, I had to concentrate harder, had to react faster, and it really forced me to play at my highest level."

Read on for more of the key numbers behind Collins' dominant showing.

1: Each woman had reached one WTA 1000 semifinal prior to Thursday's affair, but the winner was guaranteed to break new ground, as both were bidding for a first WTA 1000 final. 

4: Collins' win against Alexandrova was her fourth win against a seeded player during this tournament. The former World No.7 came into the event ranked No.53.

5: The final will be the fifth career meeting between Collins and Rybakina. Rybakina owns a 3-1 head-to-head edge -- including a three-set win in Abu Dhabi in February, where she won the title. But Collins also won the title in the tournament which she scored her win against the Kazakh, in San Jose three years ago. 

12: Since losing her first set of the tournament against fellow American Bernarda Pera, Collins has won 12 straight. 

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21: Collins hit 21 winners in 17 games (Alexandrova hit only 11), and generated 12 break points. She broke Alexandrova's serve four times in the win. 

24: In those sets, Collins has only lost 24 games -- and no player has gotten more than three games in any set.

30 years, 108 days: Collins is the fourth-oldest WTA 1000 finalist since the tournament category was introduced in 2009.

2005: Collins is bidding to be the first unseeded champion in Miami since Kim Clijsters in 2005. 

2018: Collins is the first American to reach the Miami final since Sloane Stephens in 2018 -- who won the title. Only four Americans have reached the final at this tournament in the last 15 years, with Collins and Stephens joining the Williams sisters in achieving that.