UVA Alum Danielle Collins Advances to Wimbledon Second Round

Collins defeated Austria's Julia Grabher in straight sets in the first round at Wimbledon

Matt Newton | Jul 5, 2023

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Former Virginia tennis star Danielle Collins has advanced to the second round of the Wimbledon Championships for the first time since 2021 after defeating Austria's Julia Grabher in straight sets in the first round.

The match originally began on Monday, but widespread weather delays over the last two days at Wimbledon caused the match to be suspended with Collins having just won the first set. When the match finally resumed on Wednesday, Collins completed the 6-4, 6-4 victory over Grabher, the No. 58-ranked women's singles player in the world.

Collins is currently ranked the No. 52 women's singles player in the world, but the former Cavalier and two-time NCAA singles champ hasn't played much this year, with Wimbledon being just the sixth event she has participated in since the Australian Open in January. The 29-year-old American will face Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, the No. 14-ranked player in the world and the No. 14 seed at Wimbledon, in the second round on Thursday (time TBD). A win over Bencic would match her best finish at Wimbledon, achieved in 2019 when Collins reached the round of 32.

Collins is also playing in the women's doubles tournament at Wimbledon alongside fellow American Alison Riske-Amritraj. Collins and Riske-Amritraj will take on the Romanian pairing of Ana Bogdan and Jaqueline Cristian in the first round at 6am Eastern on Friday.

Another former Wahoo and 2021 NCAA singles champion - Emma Navarro, who ended her UVA career after two years following the 2022 season - made her Wimbledon debut and fell to the No. 21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russia) 6-4, 6-3 in the first round. Navarro is playing in the doubles tournament as well alongside Estonia's Ingrid Neel. Navarro and Neel will face Carolina Dolehide (USA) and Zhang Shuai (China) in the first round on Thursday at 11:15am.

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Published Jul 5, 2023

MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.