From left: Claire Liu and Danielle Collins
Californian Claire Liu finished an exhausting week at the USTA Pro Circuit event in Naples, Fla., on Sunday, in the championship match defeating No. 7 seed Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, Fla., 6-3, 6-1 after making it through the qualifying rounds.
The 16-year-old from Thousand Oaks, Calif., won eight matches, including three in the qualifying rounds at the Svetlana Kuznetsova Cup Series event held at the Academia Sanchez-Casal.
It was her second career USTA Pro Circuit title, and first in two years.
“I just kept trying to stay in the point and tried to move the ball around,” Liu told the Naples Daily News.
Pro tennis: Claire Liu wins singles title at Academia Sanchez-Casal in Naples @usta #ascflorida @itf https://t.co/JatX150MDC via @ndn
— Emilio Sanchez Academy Florida (@EmilioSanchezFL) May 15, 2017
The 23-year-old Collins, a two-time NCAA singles champion for Virginia, is 0-2 in USTA Pro Circuit finals this year, and was projected to crack the Top 190 for the first time on the WTA rankings. She entered Naples on the heels of a three-set loss to fellow American Madison Brengle in the $60,000 Charlotte final. She is 2-3 career in USTA Pro Circuit finals.
The semifinals was also an all-American affair as Liu upset No. 2-seeded Kayla Day 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, and Collins defeated Elizabeth Halbauer 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Collins was also the doubles runner-up with American Taylor Townsend, losing to the top-seeded squad of Americans Emina Bektas and Sanaz Marand 7-6(1), 6-1.
For more info go to www.usta.com/en/home/pro/pro-tennis-events/ProCircuit.html.
