Wimbledon star 'forgets the rules' as she issues apology to opponent mid-match
Danielle Collins was left red-faced after momentarily forgetting the rules of tennis during her Wimbledon clash against title contender Iga Swiatek on Saturday
Danielle Collins was left red-faced during her Wimbledon duel against Iga Swiatek
(Image: Mike Hewitt, Getty Images )
Danielle Collins had a momentary lapse in tennis awareness during her clash against Iga Swiatek in the last 32 at Wimbledon. The American appeared to be the only person on Centre Court who failed to recognise her blunder whilst preparing to return serve from the Polish superstar.
It was during the opening set that Swiatek fired a first serve towards Collins that was deemed out. But it quickly became apparent that Collins had missed the call altogether.
Either that or she simply had a bit of brain fog regarding the fundamentals of the sport in which she has competed professionally for almost 10 years. That's after she was spotted wandering to the opposite side of her baseline, ready to receive Swiatek's serve from the wrong direction.
Audible murmurs started to ripple around Centre Court as the Pole remained in her (correct) position. And she did her best to give Collins time to realise her error, bouncing the ball in a business-like manner while readying her second serve.
But the crowd's whispers soon transformed into chuckles when Collins glanced up and realised her error. And the American bashfully trotted back to the correct side of the baseline upon catching up with the rest of the arena.
"Sorry, Iga!" she shouted across the court in an attempt to lighten the mood. However, the tournament favourite remained focused and went on to dismantle Collins 6-2, 6-3 before revealing her controversial choice of post-match meal.
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The American had to laugh after not hearing a crucial call
(Image: Getty )
Veteran Collins managed to keep a smile on her face despite the fact she was set to join Emma Raducanu in being bounced out of the competition. The Floridian managed to beat Swiatek in their previous encounter in Rome earlier this year, but Iga now leads their head-to-head rivalry eight wins to two.
Given her elevated status in women's tennis, Wimbledon has traditionally proved a challenging venue for former world No. 1 Swiatek. Despite being a five-time Grand Slam champion, the Pole is still waiting to claim her first title at SW19.
Despite her four titles at the French Open and a single US Open crown, Swiatek is yet to advance beyond the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. This makes the grass competition her least prolific major, having reached the last four of the Australian Open on two occasions.
However, Swiatek has shown impressive form since arriving for this year's competition. After securing victories over Polina Kudermetova and Caty McNally in the initial two rounds, she outperformed Collins in every aspect to secure her place in the last 16.
Swiatek stormed into the fourth round at SW19
(Image: Robert Prange, Getty Images )
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The 24-year-old, who was the top seed at last year's Championships, broke early in the first set to lead 2-1, and then again to extend her lead to 4-1. Her varied shots had Collins scrambling across the court, with the 31-year-old having to pick herself up from the ground more than once.
Swiatek continued her dominance into the second set to break and hold serve at the start. She then broke again in the final game to seal a 6-2 6-3 victory in just an hour and 15 minutes.
Her reward is a fourth-round matchup against Denmark's Clara Tauson on Monday.
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