Collins stuns Kerber to breeze into Australian Open quarterfinals

Melbourne, Jan 20 (IANS) Unseeded Danielle Collins pulled off the biggest upset so far at the Australian Open women's draw on Sunday after she routed former champion Angelique Kerber to make it to her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal.

The American, a two-time NCAA collegiate champion, lost just two games and needed just 56 minutes to defeat the number two seed 6-0, 6-2, reports Efe news.

She broke the 2016 Australian Open champion to love in the first game of the match, and broke her three more times in the second set, and finished the match with a whopping 29 winners to just 17 unforced errors.

The German, who hadn't lost serve in her first three matches of the fortnight, could hold serve just once against the American's power-packed performance.

"I may not have won a Grand Slam match before this tournament, but I gotta tell you I think it's going to keep on happening," Collins said after the match.

"When I was at college my coaches always taught me to go out there, believe in my shots," she added.

"I definitely think having that experience has helped me at the pro level, but all kudos to my coaching squad. They gave me the plan and I just executed it."

"I go out fearless, I've been working so hard my whole life. I just give it my all and I don't think twice about it. Hopefully it will be another amazing match of tennis for me," she said of her quarterfinal showdown with either compatriot and number five seed Sloane Stephens, or unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.