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.
Other winners Tuesday included Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, Poland’s Magda Linette and Spaniards Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo.
