Will Danielle Collins finish her career with a better farewell season than both Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer?
Danielle Collins of the United States beat Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinal of the Italian Open last Wednesday. She will face Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals and should she be able to win that match, it will give her a splendid opportunity to win her second WTA 1000 title of the season.
Collins is greatly enjoying her last season on the WTA tour. She has won four WTA titles in her career so far, of which one has come this season, in Miami. The Miami Open title was also her maiden WTA 1000 title.
Danielle Collins is having a really good farewell season
Danielle Collins also reached the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells before losing to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland. Collins has lost to Swiatek twice this year, the other defeat being at the Australian Open, when the Pole prevailed in a tough three-setter. She might have Swiatek standing between herself and the Italian Open title as well, as the Pole is also one of the semifinalists.
Another of Danielle Collins' losses this year came in the third round of the Madrid Open, where second-seed Sabalenka beat her in three sets. Thus, three of Collins' losses this year have come from the two highest-ranked players in women's tennis. All of the above is quite creditable for a woman playing her last season in professional tennis. In comparison, a player as decorated as Roger Federer had a pretty ordinary season in 2021, his last on the ATP Tour.
Both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have struggled in the twilight of their careers
Roger Federer reached the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open and Wimbledon, but was served a bagel in the latter by Hubert Hurkacz in a straight-sets loss. Federer also gave a walkover to Matteo Berrettini in the fourth round of the French Open and lost in the second rounds of both the Halle Open and the Geneva Open. Thus, he fared ordinarily by his lofty standards even on his favored grass in his farewell season.
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, has not made it clear if his current season will be his last, but it looks as though he will not be able to extend his career into the next season. Nadal has struggled even on clay in the ongoing season, losing in the fourth round of the Madrid Open and then in the second round of the Italian Open. He will be a perennial favourite at the French Open, but should he fail to go deep in that tournament, too, it would mark his worst season on clay during the last two decades.
Nadal is not expected to play in grass court tournaments aside from Wimbledon and even that is not guaranted in any way. He might also play at the Olympics and the US Open, but will have to do much better than he is now to make his possibly last season a memorable one.
Hence, one can safely say thar Danielle Collins is going to end up having a better farewell season than either Federer had or Nadal is potentially going to have.