UVA alum Danielle Collins falls in first-round action at U.S. Open

Former UVA women’s tennis player Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) fell in first-round action at the U.S. Open on Monday, dropping a 6-1, 6-2 match to Evgeniya Rodina.

It marked the second Grand Slam appearance for Collins. A two-time NCAA Champion, Collins also played in the 2014 U.S. Open after winning her first NCAA championship. In that appearance, Collins went three sets with second-seeded Simona Halep.

Collins again earned a wildcard berth by virtue of winning her second NCAA Championship this past May. She is the first two-time NCAA women’s singles champion in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s history and only the seventh woman to achieve the feat all time. Collins is only the second non-Stanford player to win two NCAA women’s singles championships.

She earned ITA All-America honors for the third season as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Championships and helped the Cavaliers advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Championships for only the second time in school history. Collins also set the school record for wins by a senior as she posted a 38-4 record in singles this past season. She also claimed the Honda Sport Award as the top women’s collegiate tennis player in 2016.