Only one survivor remains on Danielle Island

Danielle Collins (photos by Danielle Ward)

Sixty-four women competed in the Credit One Charleston Open main draw this week on Daniel Island, but--in the end--there was only one woman standing, and--to no one's surprise--that woman was Danielle Collins. Collins, who was unseeded, drove--with neither a coach nor a physio--to Charleston from Miami where, incidentally, she had just won the Miami Open. Winning two consecutive tournaments is a feat in itself, but winning a hard court tournament and then immediately winning a clay court tournament is another thing altogether.

photo by Daniel Ward

Collins dropped only one set the entire week, and that was to defending champion and 2nd seed Ons Jabeur, in the second round. Her very aggressive play took her past Paula Badosa, Jabeur, 2016 champion Sloane Stephens, 11th seed Elise Mertens, 3rd seed Maria Sakkari, and finally, 4th seed and 2017 champion Daria Kasatkina, whom she defeated 6-2, 6-1 in the final. The new champion is now on a thirteen-match win streak.

Daria Kasatkina and Danielle Collins (photo by Daniel Ward)

Quincy with Danielle and Dasha (photo by Daniel Ward)

One never likes to think that there's an inevitability about how a draw will turn out. This is tennis, and all kinds of things can happen--injuries, sudden, unexplained "flatness" on the court (e.a., Charleston in 2018), fatigue, and just plain big upsets. But as the week wore on, it did become increasingly hard to believe that anyone could stop Collins. Yesterday, before the second semifinal between Collins and Sakkari, Kasatkina was asked to give her thoughts about the upcoming match, and she said, "Collins is killing everyone, so we'll see." This morning, after the doubles final, Sloane Stephens remarked that "Danielle is smokin' everyone--she smoked me."

Collins had the highest first serve win percentage--72.73--of anyone who competed. She also won the most service games--84.21%, and she hit 21 serves in six matches (Taylor Townsend, who played only three matches, hit 29 aces). It should also be noted that on Thursday, Collins had to play two matches because of Wednesday's weather.

Sloane Stephens and Ashlyn Krueger (photo by Daniel Ward)

Collins wasn't the only winner today. Ashlyn Krueger and 2016 singles champion Sloane Stephens won the doubles title, defeating Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadia Kichenok 1-6, 6-3, 10-7. Both teams were unseeded. This was the first doubles title for the team, and the first doubles title for both players.

l to r: Lyudmyla Kichenok, Nadia Kichenok, Sloane Stephens, Ashlyn Krueger (photo by Daniel Ward)