A brand new week, a brand new floor, one other title for red-hot Danielle Collins.
After profitable her first 1000-level title in Miami on the laborious court docket final week, Collins secured the trophy on the inexperienced clay at Charleston on Sunday with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Daria Kasatkina within the 77-minute closing.
No stopping DANIMAL š¤
Danielle Collins races to her fourth profession title and extends her match win streak to 13!#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/tcHTNFYEEt
ā wta (@WTA) April 7, 2024
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Collins, 30, dropped only one set all through the match and defeated a string of embellished opponents, together with Ons Jabeur, Sloane Stephens and Maria Sakkari, on her solution to the title. Having entered Miami ranked No. 53, she is now using a career-best 13-match win streak and rose to No. 15 on Monday.
She additionally turned the primary girl to win Miami and Charleston back-to-back since Serena Williams in 2013.
Whereas this is able to be a powerful streak for anybody, it is made much more mind-blowing contemplating Collins has mentioned many instances that this shall be her closing season on tour. Collins initially made the announcement on the Australian Open in January, citing her challenges with endometriosis and need to start out a household, and has since mentioned her choice has given her further motivation on the court docket. Kasatkina joked about Collins’ impending retirement through the trophy presentation.
“I needed to say I will miss you on tour, however after this match I am unsure truthfully,” Kasatkina mentioned with amusing. “To be sincere, I will miss you since you’re such a personality, your character is wonderful and I believe that tennis goes to lose lots after your retirement. So take pleasure in this second. You are enjoying wonderful.”
Collins, who was a two-time NCAA singles champion whereas at Virginia, sealed her victory whereas South Carolina and Iowa had been enjoying for the nationwide championship and through Nelly Korda’s newest LPGA win — and Jessica Pegula might need simply summed up the second completely.
I really feel prefer it’s Danielle Collins, Nelly Korda, and Caitlin Clark’s world proper now as a result of that is my entire timeline. What a enjoyable time for ladies’s sports activities š„
ā Jessie Pegula (@JPegula) April 8, 2024
Here is what else you might need missed from across the tennis world final week:
New {hardware} for Shelton
Ben Shelton, one other former NCAA singles champion, arrived in Houston for the U.S. Males’s Clay Courtroom Championship with a 2-7 document on clay and having misplaced his earlier 5 matches on the floor.
However that was regardless of for the 21-year-old.
Regardless of difficult opponents and needing three units in all however one in every of his matches, Shelton dug deep and gained the title — the second of his profession and first on clay — with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over defending champion Frances Tiafoe on Sunday. Shelton, who had 11 aces within the match, turned the youngest participant to win the occasion since Andy Roddick in 2002 and rose to a career-high rating of No. 14 on Monday.
Assertion made š@BenShelton is an ATP Tour champion on clay!#USClay pic.twitter.com/4xF9uX7Jyr
ā Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 7, 2024
Shelton and Tiafoe, who’re shut mates, had a memorable trophy presentation after the match as they each exchanged type phrases and Shelton thanked Tiafoe, 26, for paving the best way for him and different gamers of shade.
“You’ve got been such an inspiration to children, folks of shade in our sport, [you’re] simply a tremendous illustration,” Shelton mentioned. “You’ve got been that man to all the time placed on for us and all the time be selfless, enthusiastic about others, children youthful than you. So thanks for all the things that you simply do for our sport and individuals who seem like you and me.”
Whereas Shelton later tweeted he was upset in regards to the timing of the match as he could not watch South Carolina and Iowa play, he was at the least capable of have an epic celebration as he jumped off of a diving board right into a pool.
Celebratory bounce off of the diving board for Houston champ Ben Shelton š„³ pic.twitter.com/4oqUB6Z50P
ā Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) April 8, 2024
The remainder of the week’s winner’s circle
Previous to final week’s Estoril Open, Hubert Hurkacz had earned seven singles titles — approaching each laborious court docket and grass surfaces — however had by no means gained a title on clay. That modified in Portugal.
Hurkacz, 27, regarded greater than comfy on the floor and rolled to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Pedro Martinez in Sunday’s closing. He had 15 aces within the match and gained 83 % of factors behind his first serve. Hurkacz, who’s now again at his career-high rating of No. 8, is 8-2 in ATP Finals.
Buddies and friends like Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud had been fast to congratulate Hurkacz on social media after the match. Ruud, the match’s prime seed who misplaced to Martinez within the semifinals, even hilariously reminded Hurkacz of the assistance he had supplied firstly of the week.
No worries my good friend @HubertHurkacz !You owe me dinner now btw..ššš https://t.co/LfQHKDrqv0
ā Casper Ruud (@CasperRuud98) April 7, 2024
Matteo Berrettini additionally gained an ATP trophy this week with the title in Marrakech. Taking part in in simply his third match since coming back from a prolonged layoff as a result of an ankle harm, his 7-5, 6-2 closing victory over Roberto Carballes Baena marked his first title since 2022 and his return to the highest 100. He’s now ranked No. 84.
“This can be a small step in my comeback, however it feels so good to be again having fun with what I like to do,” Berrettini wrote on Instagram after the match.
On the Copa Colsanitas Zurich in Bogota, Camila Osorio gained her second profession title on residence soil with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over top-seeded Marie Bouzkova. The Colombian, who beforehand gained the occasion title in 2021, credited the supportive followers for serving to her win but once more.
“The Colombian followers helped me all through the entire week,” Osorio mentioned, through the WTA. “They had been all the time pulling me up, giving me constructive vibes.”
Queen of Bogota, AGAIN ššØš“
Colombia’s @CamiOsorioTenis defeats prime seed Bouzkova to win her second Hologic WTA Tour title on residence soil!#CopaColsanitasZurich pic.twitter.com/ga3eN9GNyW
ā wta (@WTA) April 7, 2024
A primary for Stephens
Because the 2017 US Open champion, 2018 French Open finalist and former world No. 3, there’s lots Sloane Stephens has achieved in her unbelievable profession. Nevertheless, the 31-year-old made much more historical past for herself on Sunday when she gained the primary doubles title of her profession.
Taking part in alongside Ashlyn Krueger, 19, for his or her fourth match collectively, and having acquired a wild card for entry, the all-American duo defeated Ukrainian twins Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok 1-6, 6-3, [10-7], in Sunday’s closing in Charleston.
“I held the [singles] trophy right here in 2016 and to be holding my first-ever doubles title right here in Charleston is tremendous particular for me,” Stephens instructed the group after the match.
Charleston will all the time be a particular place for @SloaneStephens š
Singles title in 2016 šDoubles title in 2024 š#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/1zkI976egM
ā wta (@WTA) April 7, 2024
Nadal watch
After withdrawing from Indian Wells forward of the occasion final month, Rafael Nadal had indicated he can be returning in time for this week’s match in Monte Carlo. Nevertheless, Nadal, who’s an 11-time Monte Carlo champion, introduced he wouldn’t be enjoying within the clay occasion with a social media publish Thursday.
Hello all, these are very troublesome moments for me, sporting clever. Sadly I’ve to inform you that I’m not going to be enjoying in Monte Carlo. My physique merely will not enable me. pic.twitter.com/BEi0UUe1au
ā Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) April 4, 2024
After practically a yearlong absence as a result of a hip harm, the 37-year-old returned to competitors at Brisbane in January however suffered a muscle tear on the match and has not been capable of play since. He has beforehand mentioned he expects the 2024 season to be his final on tour.
WTA Finals announcement
After months of rumors and hypothesis, the WTA introduced it might be holding its signature year-end occasion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the following three years.
“Bringing the WTA Finals to Riyadh is an thrilling new alternative for us and a constructive step for the long-term progress of ladies’s tennis as a worldwide and inclusive sport,” WTA chairman and CEO Steve Simon mentioned within the assertion Thursday. “We have been impressed by the dedication proven by the Saudi Tennis Federation to develop the game in any respect ranges and we now have little question that gamers and followers can look ahead to a world-class occasion in Riyadh because the finale to the 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons.”
The Center Japanese nation had been rumored for the 2023 occasion, and there was widespread criticism from many concerned within the sport in regards to the nation’s document on human rights violations. It finally was granted to Cancun, Mexico, however, having had lower than two months to organize the venue, that location was broadly panned for its enjoying situations.
Many gamers voiced their hope that the 2024 location for the occasion can be introduced nicely prematurely, however others in tennis had been equally vocal in regards to the displeasure about Riyadh being a possible host, together with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who wrote an opinion piece collectively for The Washington Publish in January.
“Not solely is that this a rustic the place girls will not be seen as equal, it’s a nation the place the present panorama features a male guardianship regulation that primarily makes girls the property of males,” Evert and Navratilova wrote. “A rustic which criminalizes the LGBTQ group to the purpose of attainable demise sentences. A rustic whose long-term document on human rights and fundamental freedoms has been a matter of worldwide concern for many years.
“Staging the WTA closing there would characterize not progress, however vital regression.”
Neither the WTA nor Simon particularly addressed their issues in Thursday’s assertion. As a substitute, the assertion highlighted document prize cash of $15.25 million for 2024 and hopes for rising girls’s tennis around the globe. In an interview with The Related Press, Simon mentioned Evert and Navratilova’s issues had been mentioned.
“We’re going into this eyes vast open that the funding in sport by Saudi actually provokes robust views from folks,” Simon mentioned. “We have met with Chris and Martina and listened to their issues and we now have shared their issues by our stakeholders as nicely, with out prejudice. We have additionally shared the issues round girls’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights throughout the Kingdom of Saudi. Our focus is on how we develop girls’s tennis for the advantage of all people concerned within the sport.”
