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Clara Tauson, 19, suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the Australian Open but she tried to draw positives from it. Tauson was on the verge of making the Australian Open round-of-16 but Danielle Collins made a big comeback to win 4-6 6-4 7-5.
Tauson was up by a set and a break before losing to Collins in three sets. "I played really well. Today I learned that even I don't have a 1st serve, I can still play a very long match, even put myself in a good position to win," Tauson said after the loss, per WTA Insider.
"Sometimes it still doesn't go your way but I'm happy with the way I presented myself on the court & fought everything I could."
Tauson missed out on a great chance
Collins made a strong start to the match, having taken an early 4-1 lead.
Tauson quickly bounced back from a bad start as she earned back-to-back breaks to win five games in a row and win the first with a 6-4 score. After winning the first set, Tauson opened a 4-2 second set lead. Tauson's game shut down from that moment as Collins earned back-to-back breaks to overturn the deficit and force a decider.
Tauson saved three match points on her serve in the 10th game of the third set but couldn't do the same two games later as Collins realized her fourth match point in the 12th game to complete a comeback win. "I certainly gave myself a run for my money today, and especially with how Clara was playing," Collins said after her comeback win.
"It's never ideal to be down a set and 4-2, but it was kind of like I either needed to make the adjustments or I was going to lose the match. So I had to make that adjustment pretty quickly and really commit to it." Tauson also made the Melbourne Summer Set 2 quarterfinal during her stay in Australia.