Second seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will face American Danielle Collins (26) in the Third Round of the 2021 US Open. The match is scheduled to be played on Friday September 3rd, 2021 at 9:00pm EST.
Aryna Sabalenka is the second seed here at the 2021 US Open and is considered one of the favorites to lift the trophy. She has been in fantastic form over the past two seasons and has all the tools to be able to win a Major, it just comes down to if she is able to put everything together at the same time. She will next face a very tough opponent in Danielle Collins who will be buoyed by the fact that she is playing on home soil. The crowd will certainly be behind the American, can Sabalenka deal with the pressure and come away with the win? Or will Collins cause the upset and move on to the Round of 16?
Aryna Sabalenka is the world number two player and the second seed here at the 2021 US Open. After her impressive run to the Wimbledon Semis she has not played many events other than the two major US Open warm up events. A Semi-Final showing at the Rogers Cup was followed by a First Round loss to Paula Badosa in Cincinnati, so she will have taken a blow to her confidence there. In the First Round she was surprisingly taken to three sets by Nina Stojanic but made up for it with a straight sets demolition of Tamara Zidansek. She served very well and controlled the match with her huge groundstrokes, playing some very confident tennis. In this type of form she should be considered the heavy favorite to win here against Danielle Collins and reach the Round of 16 at the 2021 US Open.
Danielle Collins is seeded #26 here at the 2021 US Open and is currently ranked #29 on the WTA Tour. The American entered the 2021 US Open in great form, winning two titles in Palermo and San Jose. She entered this event with a lot of confidence and it has shown, with straight-set victories over Carla Suarez Navarro and Kaja Juvan on her way to the Third Round where she will face the world number two player Aryna Sabalenka. Collins is the big underdog here but has shown that she can compete with the world’s best, and playing in front of her home crowd will do her confidence a world of good, increasing her chances of causing an unlikely upset.
This will be the third meeting between the two players on the WTA Tour, with Sabalenka winning on both occasions. Despite Danielle Collins strong play recently I am expecting a similar result. I am expecting a much closer match this time around, but I am still backing Aryna Sabalenka to get the win here. The world number two can be very inconsistent at times but she looked fantastic against Zidansek and when she is confident there are very few women that can handle her power. I think that Collins will give a good account of herself but will ultimately lose here, and the Belarusian will advance to the Round of 16 here at the 2021 US Open.