World No 1 Iga Swiatek overcame a huge scare as she fought back to beat Danielle Collins 6-4 3-6 6-4 in the second round of the Australian Open.
Swiatek came into the tournament as favourite but 2022 runner-up Collins was two breaks up in the deciding set before the Pole came roaring back with five games in a row to clinch the match.
Collins, 30, announced afterwards that she planned to retire at the end of the year.
“I was in the airport already!,” said Swiatek, who will face Linda Noskov from the Czech Republic in the last 32 on Saturday.
“I wanted to fight until the end. I know she played perfectly but it would be hard for anyone to keep that level, so I wanted to be ready when mistakes were going to come from the other side and punish them.
“I did in the end and I’m really proud of myself because it wasn’t easy. I felt like I had momentum going, then she suddenly started playing two times faster.
“I had no idea how to react to that for a couple of games but I came back and thought ‘the only thing I can focus on is myself’. I stopped caring about how she played and focused on myself.”
The opening six games were shared until rain arrived in Melbourne, which forced play to be suspended.
Swiatek found the decisive break in the ninth game to go 5-4 up and held serve to take the opening set before breaking immediately at the start of the second.
However, the momentum quickly changed as American player Collins rattled off five consecutive games to move 5-1 ahead before taking the second set 6-3.
Collins continued to pile on the pressure and broke early in the third to move 2-1 ahead then made it a double break to ensure the upset was very much on.
Swiatek got a break back but faced three break points on her serve at 4-3 down. She saved them all and that proved a turning point as Collins began to make errors.
It was soon all square as Swiatek took advantage of a poor Collins service game before holding serve and winning the match with her third opportunity in one of most dramatic contests at this year’s Australian Open so far.
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