It’s time to grab the best seat in the house as ‘Danimal’ will yet again be in action ahead of the 2024 French Open. Danielle Collins takes on Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova in the R16 of the Internationaux de Strasbourg. Collins has been in scintillating form this year and she has been absolutely unstoppable this season. A flame burns brightest just before it goes out. And since Collins has already announced her retirement at the end of the season, it’ll be interesting to see if she can add a few more titles to her bag before hanging her racquets.

Collins is entering this tournament after a defeat in the SF of the Italian Open at the hands of world number 2, Aryna Sabalenka. She will now be looking forward to quickly getting back to her winning ways before the French Open. But to do that she needs to defeat someone who’s a doubles specialist and has been a former world number one in doubles. Siniakova has won just five titles in her singles career so far. It will be interesting to see how well she handles this mighty challenge in Strasbourg this time around.

Danielle Collins vs Katerina Siniakova: Preview

Danielle Collins has already won two titles this season, but she is hungry for more! Apart from winning titles, she has also reached two QFs and one SF in her previous tournaments this year. In her last match in Rome, Sabalenka defeated the American tennis star by a 7-5,6-2 margin. Collins managed to hit a single ace throughout the match but she committed five double faults against Sabalenka. Her first serve win percentage was around 68% but it dropped to 48% on the second serve. She managed to convert one of his two breakpoints against the Belarusian tennis star.

Looking at her numbers from this season, the 30-year-old American has hit 143 aces and committed 161 double faults so far. She has won 74.4% of her service games and 40.8% of her return games. Her style of play allows her to hit several winners but also generate a considerable number of high-risk unforced errors. Can she keep a check on her unforced errors against Siniakova?

Well, if she can, we can yet again witness a dominating performance by Danielle Collins. But Katerina Sinikova will be more than ready to face this in-form American. Siniakova made quite a few R16 appearances this year but her best performance came at the WTA 125 Lleida, ES where she won the title by defeating Mayar Sherif in the finals. In her last match, she defeated Yulia Putintseva by 6-0,7-5 in the R32 of the Strasbourg tournament. But surprisingly she didn’t hit any aces nor did she commit any double faults in that match.

Her first serve win percentage was 69% while it was around 33% on the second serve. She successfully converted seven of her fifteen breakpoints in that match. If we look at her numbers from this season, Siniakova has hit just 35 aces but has committed many double faults (103). She has won 61.3% of her service games and 41.5% of her return games this year. Keeping a check on the double faults will be very crucial in this match. But how were the numbers in their previous encounters?

Collins vs Siniakova: Head-to-Head

Their first meeting was at the 2019 Canadian Open and in that match, Katerina Siniakova defeated Danielle Collins by 4-6,7-6(3),6-2. However, Collins made a comeback this year at the 2024 Qatar Open and defeated the Czech tennis star by 6-4,6-3. Currently, their H2H is officially leveled at 1-1. Who has the higher chance of taking the lead by winning their next match in Strasbourg?

If we look at the numbers from their latest encounter in Doha, Danielle Collins hit five aces and committed four double faults in the entire match. Whereas, Katerina Siniakova hit just one ace and committed four double faults. Collins had a first-serve win percentage of 66% and it dropped to 34% on the second serve. In contrast, Siniakova won 41% of her first serve and 29% of her second serve. The American tennis star converted seven of her twelve breakpoints but the Czech converted just five of her fourteen breakpoints. Can Siniakova make things tougher for Collins in Strasbourg?

Prediction: Collins will win this contest in two sets

Danielle Collins currently has a win-loss record of 28-9, while Katerina Siniakova has a record of 10-11 this season. Stopping the in-form Danielle Collins is a mammoth task. Collins has a very highly aggressive playing style and her fearless nature on the court is what makes her ‘Danimal’. Her powerful serve and strong groundstrokes on both wings make her one of the hardest hitters on the WTA Tour. But her double-handed backhand is comparatively stronger than her forehand.

Katerina Siniakova on the other hand, has had most of her success in her doubles career. She is a very talented player with a strong forehand in the armory. Siniakova has in fact reached the QF of this tournament in 2020. But is it enough to put her above the unstoppable ‘Danimal’ at the moment? A big no!