Danielle Collins of the U.S. celebrates after winning the match against Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
MELBOURNE, January 22 (Reuters): Danielle Collins overcame a slow start to book a maiden Grand Slam semi-final spot at the Australian Open when the unheralded American rallied from a set down to overcome Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6 7-5 6-1 on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old Collins had not won a match in her previous five Grand Slam appearances but has now made it to the last four in her first main draw showing at Melbourne Park.
"My first time playing on Rod Laver and I didn't even practise here before so this was quite the experience, I absolutely love it," Collins said in her court-side interview.
"All the Australian fans have really made me feel at home here."
In a first career meeting between the pair, Collins and Pavlyuchenkova were evenly matched in their ability to hit winners, but the American had greater control on the unforced errors that proved decisive.
Collins, who crushed second seed and triple Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber in the fourth round, had 20 unforced errors in the match compared to her opponent's 36. Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens in the fourth round, has now failed to get past the quarter-final stage at Grand Slam events in five attempts.
Collins advances to play the winner of the match between Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova and local hope Ashleigh Barty, who is seeded 15th, for a place in Saturday's final.