Collins focused on competing at Roland Garros

Danielle Collins pulled off another tricky three-set win at Roland Garros, this time 6-4, 4-6 6-4 over Ons Jabeur. She's now into her first career quarterfinal in Paris, and while she asked about a runny nose and the new COVID-19 restrictions shutting down Paris, Collins is staying firmly focused on the task at hand.

"I'm just focused on going out and competing," she said. "Even though we're in a pandemic and there is more restrictions, there's limited activity that you can do at the site, in the hotel, and obviously not being able to leave the bubble, I'm so consumed with my day-to-day."

The milestone win took an extra day to come to fruition as rain interrupted play on Monday. On Tuesday, Collins appeared in full control of the match with a 6-4, 3-0 lead before Jabeur stormed back.

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"I think she's a really tricky player," Collin said. "And she has so many tools under her belt that she's able to use in really clutch moments, particularly I think it was maybe when I was up 3-0 in the second set and there were a couple of really strong groundstrokes that I had hit.  She was able to hit a drop shot off of those."

Collins could rely on some experience with drop shots having started her Paris campaign against Monica Niculescu.

"Yeah, luckily though after playing against Niculescu in the first round I felt like that prepared me a little bit for a lot of the drop shots that I had to run after today," Collins said.

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The former University of Virginia standout is playing in just her third French Open. In 2018, she lost in her debut to Caroline Wozniacki and in 2019, she fell in the second round to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty.

Though her draw this year began with qualifier Niculescu, Collins didn't go into the match any differently than year's past.

"I think every match I go out and play, I respect my opponents the same," the world No. 57 said. "Whether they are ranked 400 in the world or Top 10 in the world, I have so much respect for everybody that comes out and is going to compete at this level."

Collins will next compete against No. 4 seed Sofia Kenin in an all-American clash. On the WTA and ITF tours they have played three times before with Collins winning each time, including earlier this year in Adelaide.

"We've had some great matches in the past, and she's obviously had a lot of success this year playing some really great tennis here," Collins said. "So I know that it's going to be another battle and another fun match."