UVA women’s tennis star Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) will battle No. 2-seed Simona Halep of Romania in the opening round of the main draw at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.
Collins will face Halep, the second-ranked player in the WTA rankings, in the opening match of the main draw on Monday (Aug. 25). First serve is set for 11 a.m. at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The match will be televised live on the Tennis Channel.
Collins earned the wild card into the main draw by winning the 2014 NCAA singles championship, becoming the first woman in the program’s history to win an NCAA crown. Collins earned ITA All-America recognition and her 37 singles wins in 2013-14 rank second all-time at UVa for a single-season.
Collins also helped Virginia to its first Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships and first NCAA quarterfinal appearance in school history. The All-ACC first-team performer earned Most Valuable Player honors at the ACC Championship by going 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles.
Halep advanced to the semifinals of Wimbledon and was the runner-up to Maria Sharapova at the French Open this season. Halep is the owner of eight career WTA singles titles, including two this season.
Fans can also follow Collins online at USOpen.org.