Danielle Collins admitted she made a mistake which she believes cost her dearly against Jessica Pegula at the Charleston Open.
The 31-year-old’s title defence at the WTA 500 event came to an end at the hands of her compatriot and the World number four.
Danielle Collins made an electric start against her fellow American and therefore looked to be cruising to her first victory over Jessica Pegula.
But the World number 22 imploded and she swiftly went from holding a healthy lead to packing her bags and exiting the court after a defeat.
Danielle Collins says she made a mistake against Jessica Pegula which led to her defeat in Charleston
Collins did not waste any time applying pressure on Pegula as he stormed through the first set 6-1.
She also went up break in the second set and held a 2-0 lead. But things soon started to go downhill for Collins, World number 22.
Pegula turned the match around and proceeded to win 10 of the next 13 games to seal a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 win in one hour and 44 minutes.
Post-match Collins lamented her performance and admitted she made a mistake mentally that ultimately cost her the match.
“I think I just got into my own head about stuff and just wasn’t in a positive mindset today and that cost me the match,” Collins told reporters.
“I think I am just such a perfectionist, I think after the first set I just kind of thought she wasn’t playing that well and I kind of got lucky and the second set I thought I just didn’t get through those challenging moments and started questioning what I was doing.”
Danielle Collins praises Jessica Pegula after their Charleston Open match
Collins faced Pegula for the sixth time when they clashed at the Charleston Open.
Pegula maintained her unbeaten record against Collins with her three-set victory and will play Ekaterina Alexandrova in the semi-finals.
Collins praised Pegula’s impressive comeback performance and explained what her strengths are on court.
“I think Jess’s movement is incredible, her anticipation and skills with her hands too and being able to throw in a different variety,” she said. “I set up some of the points well and was just missing and not able to execute my strategy the way that I wanted to.
“I think she did a good job of running down extra balls and anticipating what I was doing, and some of the shots I was making by this much [fractions] in the first set I was missing by this much [fractions] after.
“That is going to happen with the aggressive game style that I play but I think mentally I was just pretty disappointed with how I played in the second set and physically and mentally I just fatigued and started to go away in the third.”
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