Tears may have flowed for Danielle Collins, but her fighting spirit in Madrid has sparked a turning point for another. In a dramatic Madrid Open clash, Danielle Collins pushed Aryna Sabalenka to the brink, a grueling encounter that may prove to be a turning point for the Belarusian star. While Collins exited heartbroken, a tennis legend believes this battle-tested Sabalenka is primed to emerge stronger. Will the fires of Madrid forge a champion?

Two-time Miami champion Sabalenka snapped Miami champion Collins’ 15-match unbeaten streak in the fourth round of the Mutua Madrid Open. With this victory, Aryna moved into her first WTA 1000 QF of the season. The Belarusian tennis star started her season pretty well, she even managed to defend her title at the 2024 AO, but after that, she looked a bit rusty in the rest of her tournaments. Even in Madrid, she took three sets to defeat her opponents in her first three matches. Sabalenka took just two sets to beat Mirra Andreeva in her QF match. Back to her dominating form?

Renowned Kiwi tennis coach, Simon Rea, recently appeared on ‘The AO Show Weekly’ podcast. Per Rea  Aryna’s match against Collins was extremely crucial to bring back ‘The Tiger’ in her.  During the conversation he stated, “That’s where there’s a shift here in 2023, Sabalenka, across the year save 62% of breakpoints on her service game. In 2024. That number is down at 54. So that’s, that’s 8%. It might not sound a lot. But I think when you’re playing quality opposition day in, day out week, in, week out month in month out, that’s the gap.”

He added, “That’s the gap in the game in terms of being dominant at the top of the sport, or suffering some very narrow three-set losses so far in 2024.” The 41-year-old tennis coach then went on to reflect on the change he saw in Madrid. “Coming into Madrid in 2024, in three set matches. Sabalenka was two and four and three set matches. So her deciding set record, two matches won, four matches last out of the six this week. She’s now gone three straight three set victories over the likes of Linette, Montgomery and Collins,” Simon Rea.

Rea strongly believes this match between Sabalenka and Collins will be the turning point in the Belarusian’s season. “Collins was the hot hand really hot hand on that on that really hot streak. So whilst it’s not necessarily been the cleanest performance from Sabalenka, and so far, and I suspect it might be the catalyst that she needed to get herself feeling 10 foot tall and bulletproof again. And to find a way through some of those tricky matches, which had been tripping her up post Australian Open leading into Madrid,” Simon Rea.

After the match, Aryna Sabalenka admitted that it was tough to beat this in-form American tennis star. She heaped praise on Collins saying she played some unbelievable tennis in that match. However, during the match, there wasn’t any shortage of high-voltage action!

Aryna Sabalenka get into a “Let’s go” battle with Danielle Collins

Aryna Sabalenka currently has a 100% win record against Danielle Collins. But in the previous match, the American came very close to clinching her first win against the current world number two. However, there was one incident during the match which stood tall among the rest in the minds of all the spectators.

The incident happened during the ninth game of the first set. It was the American’s service game. And she pulled out an ace in a highly tense moment and shouted, “Let’s go!” Then, at the very next point, Aryna Sabalenka showcased her resilience. She hit a flat cross-court backhand winner in a brief exchange of shots in a rally. Shortly after clinching the point, Aryna Sabalenka was spotted mimicking Danielle Collins’ roar with a similar aggressive gesture.

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Although the winning moment of Sabalenka is the talk of the town, this little exchange in the middle of the match caught a lot of attention.