No.13 seed Danielle Collins of the United States fended off a tremendous challenge from Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic at the Mutua Madrid Open early Saturday morning, earning another victory to extend her springtime winning streak even further.

In her first match on red clay this season, Collins survived 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in a 2-hour and 43-minute second-round thriller. Collins fought back from a set and a break down, eventually overcoming World No.122 Danilovic to rack up her 14th straight match-win.

Collins saw five match points come and go in the third-set tiebreak before squeaking past 23-year-old left-hander Danilovic. It was after 12:30 a.m. local time when Collins claimed her 23rd tour-level victory of 2024, third-best on the WTA (trailing only Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek).

Next up: Collins will now face one of this year's top clay-courters when she meets another qualifier, Jaqueline Cristian of Romania, in the third round. It will be the first meeting between Collins and World No.73 Cristian.

Cristian upset No.22 seed and former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova on Friday. Combining main draws, qualifying and Billie Jean King Cup, Cristian has won eight of her 10 clay-court matches in 2024, including two Top 20 wins at Charleston over Emma Navarro and Madison Keys.

Whisker-thin win: Collins entered Madrid having taken home the title at her last two events, the Miami Open (her first WTA 1000 title) and the Credit One Charleston Open. However, the 30-year-old American, playing in her last season on tour, was forced to dig deep in Spain.

Danilovic came into her first meeting against Collins with solid bona fides. The Serb has three Top 20 wins under her belt, and she also won a clay-court WTA title as a 17-year-old lucky loser at the 2018 Moscow River Cup, beating Top 10 player Julia Goerges en route.

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Also, Danilovic saved four match points in her first main-draw win of this week, when she outlasted France's Clara Burel in three sets. Against Collins, Danilovic almost won her second straight match from multiple match points down.

In fact, Danilovic held two break points at 6-4, 3-1 to lead by a set and a double-break. Collins, though, used exceptional play in the forecourt to erase those chances and stay within touching distance. That proved to be pivotal as Collins turned the second set around to tie the clash.

Collins was down a break in the third set as well, where Danilovic served for the match at 5-4. Collins, though, romped to triple break point in that game, and eventually pulled back level as the duo moved towards the decisive tiebreak.

In the breaker, Collins held three match points at 6-3 and a fourth at 7-6, but Danilovic fended off all of those chances to reach 7-7. At 8-7, Collins misfired on her fifth match point with a double fault, and Danilovic was eyeing another incredible escape in Madrid.

However, Collins garnered her sixth match point with an outrageous backhand winner for 9-8. The American finally wrapped up proceedings and kept her winning streak alive with a forehand down the line, her 35th winner of the night (to Danilovic's 31).