American Danielle Collins reached her maiden grand slam final with victory over Poland’s Iga Swiatek in the Australian Open semifinal on Thursday
The 28-year-old Collins overpowered the 7th seed in straight sets 6-4 6-1 and will meet world no.1 Ash Barty in Saturday’s women’s singles final at Melbourne Park.
The 27th seed’s run to the final caps off a remarkable comeback story for Collins.
In April last year, the American was undergoing emergency surgery for endometriosis — a condition where the tissue that lines the uterus grows outside of it — and had suffered an abdominal injury at the French Open.
The Floridian has always been candid about her health struggles and says the pain from her endometriosis was some of the worst she’s ever experienced.
“Had I not had the surgery, I just couldn’t keep living my life like that,” Collins told the WTA website in August last year, adding that she was in extreme pain particularly during her menstrual cycles.
“The agony that I experienced from my menstrual cycles and from the endometriosis is some of the worst pain I’ve ever had.”
Collins has credited the surgeon for saving her career and she’s now playing some of the best tennis of her life since bursting onto the scene with a semifinal run in Melbourne in 2019.
The American will be bidding for a maiden grand slam title whilst her opponent Ash Barty will be hoping to become the first home Australian Open champion in 44 years.
