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Match details
Fixture: (2) Aryna Sabalenka vs (26) Danielle Collins
Date: 3 September 2021
Tournament: US Open 2021
Round: Third round (Round of 32)
Venue: New York, United States
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Outdoor hardcourt
Prize money: $40,560,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN/ESPN 2 | UK - Amazon Prime Video | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP
Aryna Sabalenka vs Danielle Collins preview
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus takes on in-form American Danielle Collins in the third round of the US Open on Friday.
Sabalenka is in the middle of a career-best season, where she has already won a couple of titles and reached a Slam semifinal. The 23-year-old has continued her stellar form into the US Open Series too, reaching the last four in Montreal.
The Belarusian's exploits have propelled her to a career-high ranking of World No. 2, and she will be eager to keep her run going at the year's final Major.
Sabalenka began her campaign with an erratic performance on Monday, where she needed three sets to see off World No. 94 Nina Stojanovic. But the 23-year-old cleaned up her act in the second round to beat French Open semifinalist Tamara Zidansek 6-3, 6-1.
Up next for Sabalenka is a tough challenge in the form of World No. 29 Danielle Collins.
Collins has had a stunning couple of months in the lead-up to the US Open, winning the title at Palermo on clay and at San Jose on hardcourt. The 27-year-old has been playing with a conviction never seen before, and she arrived in New York with a lot of confidence.
So far at Flushing Meadows, Collins has notched up a couple of commanding wins over quality opponents - Carla Suarez Navarro and Kaja Juvan. Given that she is in such great form, the American will fancy her chances of an upset when she meets Sabalenka on Friday.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Danielle Collins head-to-head
Aryna Sabalenka has a 2-0 lead over Danielle Collins in their head-to-head. Their first ever face-off took place at Flushing Meadows in 2018, where the Belarusian had to dig deep for a 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 win.
But their most recent meeting, at Wuhan a couple of years ago, was absolutely one-sided. Sabalenka dropped just one game in the match on her way to a thumping 6-1, 6-0 win.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Danielle Collins prediction
Having overpowered Danielle Collins in each of their past two meetings, Aryna Sabalenka should be the favorite on paper to come through this contest. However, the Belarusian does have the tendency to commit too many unforced errors at times, something that was visible during her first-round clash with Stojanovic.
After bagging the first set comfortably, Sabalenka was unable to control her aggression in the second. She made 21 unforced errors in that set alone before rebounding for a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-0 win.
A repeat of that could put Sabalenka in trouble, especially since Collins has been striking the ball beautifully so far at the US Open. In her last match against Juvan, the American powered 26 winners while committing just 16 unforced errors, which shows how cleanly she has been hitting.
A lot will depend on Sabalenka's serve. If she maintains the accuracy on that shot and also keeps her groundstroke errors in check, she might just have too much power for Collins again.
Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka to win in three sets.
