Danielle Collins ended her match by winning nine straight games to down Japan’s Naomi Osaka 7–5, 6–0 in the first round of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open on Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates.
It was a rematch of a 2022 U.S. Open meeting between Collins, who is retiring at season’s end, and Osaka, who was given a wild card into Abu Dhabi as she returns from the birth of her child. Collins saved all six break points she faced and won 30 of her 35 first-service points (85.7 percent), while Osaka had a 7–5 edge in aces.
No. 8 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia needed just 51 minutes to oust Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 6–0, 6–1, but Great Britain’s Heather Watson upset ninth seed Veronika Kudermetova 6–3, 7–5.
Transylvania Open
German No. 2 seed Tatjana Maria got past China’s Zhuoxuan Bai 7–5, 6–3 in opening-round action in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.No. 6 seed Elina Avanesyan of Russia also advanced in straight sets, beating Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 6–4, 7–6 (3). Avanesyan won nearly 60 percent of her first-return points (23 of 39).
The only match to go the distance saw France’s Alize Cornet hold off Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 7–5, 4–6, 6–3. Also advancing were Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, Jaqueline Cristian of Romania, Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, Erika Andreeva of Russia, and Harriet Dart of Great Britain.
