Adelaide, Australia, 24 February 2021 | Leigh Rogers

Ash Barty’s Adelaide International campaign is over, losing her second-round clash with American Danielle Collins tonight.

In a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Barty won in three sets, it was world No.37 Collins who emerged the victor this time.

Collins recorded a 6-3 6-4 win in front of a stunned crowd at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre.

https://twitter.com/AdelaideTennis/status/1364505392449994752?s=20

Defending champion Barty started strong, building a 3-1 lead. But Collins came roaring back to reel off five consecutive games and take the opening set in 31 minutes.

The 27-year-old American fired 11 winners to Barty’s five and was performing better on serve, landing 75 per cent of first serves compared to the Australian’s 46 per cent.

“Danielle was able to control the centre of the court, control the baseline and hold court position – and on a really quick court that’s vital,” Barty admitted. “She was able to get first strike in on most occasions and particularly when she’s seeing so many second serves.”

A composed Barty wrested back control early in the second set, breaking Collins’ serve to love in the fourth game. Leading 4-1, again the world No.1 struggled to build on her early advantage.

Collins won the final five games of the match to seal victory in 65 minutes.

“It’s not always going to go your way, you can’t win every single tennis match, but you can sure as hell approach it the right way,” Barty said. “And I think for my team and for me, we did that this week. We just didn’t quite get that result that went our way.”

It is Collins’ sixth career top-10 win and first against a No.1-ranked opponent. She now plays fifth seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, who eliminated Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis tonight.

Earlier today, Australian qualifier Storm Sanders scored a career-best victory. The 26-year-old defeated seventh seed Yulia Putintseva in three sets to advance to her first WTA-level singles quarterfinal.

> READ: Sanders scores first top-30 win to continue stunning run

Adelaide International – Aussies in action

TODAY’S RESULTS

Women’s singles, second round
[Q] Storm Sanders (AUS) d [7] Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 6-4 5-7 6-1
Danielle Collins (USA) d [1] Ash Barty (AUS) 6-3 6-4
[5] Iga Swiatek (POL) d [Q] Maddison Inglis (AUS) 6-1 6-3

Women’s doubles, first round
[3] Desirae Krawczyk (USA)/Alexa Guarachi (CHI) d Destanee Aiava (AUS)/Astra Sharma (AUS) 7-6(6) 7-5
Kaitlyn Christian (USA)/Sabrina Santamaria (USA) d Olivia Gadecki (AUS)/Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) 6-4 6-3

COMING UP

Women’s singles, quarterfinals
[Q] Storm Sanders (AUS) v [2] Belinda Bencic (SUI)

> VIEW: Adelaide International women’s singles draw

Women’s doubles, quarterfinals
Lizette Cabrera (AUS)/Maddison Inglis (AUS) v Xu Yifan (CHN)/Yang Zhaoxuan (CHN)
Abbie Myers (AUS)/Ivana Popovic (AUS) v [3] Desirae Krawczyk (USA)/Alexa Guarachi (CHI)

Adelaide International tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster. Prices start at $20 for adults, with free tickets available for children at all sessions.