Danielle Collins crushes Iga Swiatek to reach maiden Grand Slam final at 2022 Australian Open

Danielle Collins produced a masterclass in aggressive ball-striking to defeat Iga Swiatek in straight sets in the semifinals of the 2022 Australian Open. The American dominated from start to finish to see off the Pole and advance to her maiden Grand Slam final.

Iga Swiatek vs Danielle Collins score

The American defeated seventh seed Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-1 to continue her fairytale run in Melbourne and progress to the biggest final of her career.

Iga Swiatek vs Danielle Collins winner

With her win over Swiatek, Collins has set up a title clash with World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. The Australian cruised past Madison Keys in the first semifinal.

Iga Swiatek vs Danielle Collins recap

Danielle Collins at the 2022 Australian Open.

Collins started the match strongly, racing to a 4-0 lead by breaking Swiatek's serve twice.

The 2020 Roland Garros champion got on the board in the fifth game, holding for 4-1. The Pole then broke for the first time in the match to reduce the deficit to 4-2. But she failed to build on her momentum and dropped serve immediately to hand the initiative back to the American.

Serving at 5-2, the American had multiple set points, but hit two double faults and a backhand error to get broken. Swiatek held for 5-4, forcing Collins to serve out the set. The American made no mistake the second time of asking and closed out the set 6-4.

The second set mirrored the first, as Collins once again raced to a 4-0 lead, winning 13 points in a row. Swiatek finally managed to hold serve in the fifth game, but failed to trouble the American on return.

Serving to stay in the match, Swiatek was under tremendous pressure and soon enough found herself needing to save two matchpoints. The former French Open champion saved the first with a backhand winner, but conceded the match with an error.

Collins, on her part, played a fantastic match, hitting 27 winners and committing just 13 unforced errors. She will have to produce a similar performance in the final against Barty, who has not dropped a set in the tournament.