Danielle Collins says she can resonate with the Williams sisters after winning the Charleston Open on Sunday.
Collins beat Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur, Sloane Stephens, Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari en route to making the final in South Carolina.
The 30-year-old took on Daria Kasatkina in the final and defeated the Russian 6-2 6-1 in one hour and 17 minutes with a 95.2 per cent win percentage on her first serve.
Serena Williams congratulated Collins on social media, saying “so happy, love this and you” in a comment on a post of Collins lifting the trophy on Instagram. Collins replied: “I love you more!!!”.
Collins says Serena is her “idol” and that her path into tennis with sister Venus has always inspired her.
“Serena was my idol,” she told Tennis Channel.
“I think the Williams sisters taught all of us it doesn’t matter where you come from, doesn’t matter your background, what you look like, how much money your parents have.
“If you set your mind to something and you work your tail off, anything’s possible.
“I think I resonated with their story a little bit too. My dad was my coach and we were at the public parks, and my parents were driving me all around, and working double, triple shifts just so they could support my dream.
“To have their support and for them to be so vocal, I feel so grateful.”
The 2022 Australian Open runner-up Collins announced in January she would be quitting the sport in 2024 and that she hoped to start a family.
Before Collins, the last player to win Miami and Charleston in the same year was Serena Williams in 2013.
“I had a lot of matches in Miami, and I had a lot of matches here,” said Collins.
“I had, at one point in this tournament, two matches in one day, which is not easy to pull off. I don’t know if I’ve done that before as a professional. I feel like the last time I did that was like in 12-and-unders.
“So to be able to physically battle and push myself to a new limit gives me a lot of confidence. I’ve been so happy to be, obviously, playing at the level that I’ve been playing, but to be able to back it up two weeks in a row has just been fantastic.”