Danielle Collins heartbroken after not getting enough 'credit' for defeating Iga Swiatek in Italian Open

In the post-match interview, Danielle Collins talked about her dominant win over Iga Swiatek in the 2025 Italian Open. She and World No. 2 Swiatek met in the Round of 32 stage for the Internazionali d'Italia, with the Pole a clear favorite for the victory. Swiatek's record on clay has been exemplary: a four-time winner at Roland Garros, including taking the title for the last three years.

Swiatek was also the defending champion in Italy and the winner in 2021 and 2022. On the other hand, Collins had only reached one Italian Open semifinal. She was also on a six-match losing streak against Swiatek. In the match, she took advantage of a poor run of form from the Pole, who committed 22 unforced errors in the match, and ran out a 6-1, 7-5 winner.

After her victory, Danielle Collins was annoyed by the reception she received. She felt that the overwhelming response was that Swiatek had lost the match, and that she hadn't been given enough credit for the quality of her tennis. The TennisOne X account reported her interview with T2, in which Collins stated:

“I thought I played really well against Iga. 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 celebrate your win sometimes when you feel like you’ve played a good match and it’s just like ugh whatever. I was happy about it, but it wasn’t as fun as I imagined.”

Danielle Collins hit 32 winners in the match with Swiatek and made only 15 unforced errors. She also converted six of eight break-point opportunities.

Danielle Collins's victory over Iga Swiatek came after a poor run of form

Italian Open 2025 - Source: Getty

Danielle Collins's win over Swiatek was all the more impressive given that she had been struggling for victories on the WTA tour all year. The American's best showing in 2025 was a quarterfinal in the Charleston Open, where she was beaten in three sets by Jessica Pegula. She went into the Swiatek match with a 1-8 head-to-head slate against the Pole.

In her post-match interview, Collins was upbeat:

"After losing to Iga so many times, you learn from those experiences, from those encounters. In my mind, I thought that even though she had beaten me the last two times we played, I had played some of my best matches. That gave me confidence."

Unfortunately, Collins was unable to carry that confidence into the next round. She was beaten by Elina Svitolina 4-6, 2-6. She won her first-round match at the Strasbourg Open against Sofia Kenin and will now play Emma Raducanu in the second round tomorrow.