Danielle Collins admits what she’s found ‘difficult’ after beating Iga Swiatek in Italy, ‘that wasn’t as fun as I imagined’

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Danielle Collins beat Iga Swiatek for just the second time at the Italian Open after six consecutive losses.

Collins and Swiatek have a complex relationship, dating back to the Paris Olympics where they had a tense exchange on court.

However, the Pole had dominated their head-to-head before Collins made career history by beating Swiatek.

Despite the breakthrough moment for Collins, a lot of the attention has been on Swiatek’s recent mistakes.

Danielle Collins admits what she’s found difficult after beating Iga Swiatek

Collins beat Swiatek, 6-1 7-5, ending her opponent’s Italian Open title defence in convincing fashion.

When reliving that victory over Swiatek, Collins told the Tennis Channel that she actually was disappointed with the reaction to her win.

Collins highlighted that she felt that people were more focussed on Swiatek’s errors rather than praising herself.

“I thought I played really well against Iga,” said Collins. “I didn’t get a ton of credit for it after the match, of course. It was more about how poorly she played and everything.

“That can make it difficult to be able to celebrate your wins sometimes, when you feel like you have a good match and are playing well and it’s just like whatever. So I was happy about it but the feeling with that wasn’t as fun as I imagined.”

Could Danielle Collins be a dark horse for Roland Garros?

After falling down the rankings to world number 46, Collins will be unseeded for Roland Garros this year.

Collins has endured mixed results at the Parisian major over the years, reaching the quarter-finals in 2020.

However, outside of that year Collins has been unable to surpass the third round and suffered a second round defeat to Olga Danilovic in 2024.

Being unseeded means that Collins could play anyone in the first round, including world number five Swiatek.

Collins is currently focused on the WTA 500 tournament in Strasbourg, where she reached the final last year.

After beating Sofia Kenin, Collins now faces former US Open champion Emma Raducanu in a first-time meeting.