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Patna : World No 35 in WTA rankings Danielle Rose Collins, 25, USA, beat World No 44 Annastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 27, Russia, in a tough three-sets 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the quarter-finals on January 22, 2019, to adavance to semi-finals of Australian Open (AO). Collins had stunned World No 2 Angelique Kerber, Germany, in the 4th round on January 20, 2019, in a major upset in the tournament.
Collins lost the first set but made a strong comeback to win the next two sets. Both players served 6 Aces each in the match. But, Collins won 5 break points to 4 by Pavlyuchenkova. The American won 7 games in a row in the match to 3 by Pavlyuchenkova. Collins, however, won only 49 service points to 62 by her Russian rival.
Unseeded Collins has reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam event for the first time. Pavlyuchenkova, on the other hand, had reached the quarters-finals of AO in 2017 too. Pavlyuchenkova had also reached the QFs of Wimbledon in 2016 and US Open and French Open QFs in 2011. Collins had lost in the first round of French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open in 2018. Collins played tennis at University of Virginia, USA, and has a degree in Media Studies besides a Masters degree in Business.