Danielle Collins Runs into Kamau Murray

AP Photo/Jim Rassol

Danielle Collins Runs into Kamau Murray

Her quarterfinal result at the Volvo Open was a decent start to Danielle Collins’ clay court season. Ok, I get it, it’s not the red clay. However, I consider the Volvo Open as decent tune up to the European clay court swing. Also, it had a pretty legit field, with numerous top 20 players on the docket. In terms of Danielle Collins, I just wrote a couple of weeks about her lack luster results after her semifinal run at the Australian.

 

At the Volvo Open, even though she was beaten by a streaky Monica Puig, Collins can go onto her next tournament knowing that she’s back to playing consistent and top 20 women’s tennis. She may have been frustrated at her loss to Monica Puig, who is currently outside the top 50. However, make no mistake, Monica Puig is a top 10 player when playing well. Unfortunately, she has not been consistent nor organized in her approach.

 

Cue in Kamau Murray, former coach of Sloane Stephens, and all of a sudden Monica is playing smart, consistent and process-oriented tennis. As a side note, it was interesting to see Sloane beaten by Keys and immediately after that match, Keys has to take down another Kamau Murray pupil. Anyway, back to Kamau Murray.

 

I think he’s going to be excellent for Monica Puig. After Puig won the Gold Medal in 2016, everyone thought it was her coming out party, and she’d be a consistent threat at big tournaments. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. And it hasn’t been for a lack of talent. Every season Puig seems to go on a few good streaks where she beats solid top ten players, such as Kerber, Muguruza, and Wozniacki. However, she’s never really been able to build on those wins in the subsequent rounds. Let’s see if Kamau get her to that consistency she desperately needs. It should be interesting for sure. While that happens, let’s keep an eye on Collins as she heads to the European Clay Court swing.

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