Danielle Collins stunned defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round of the Italian Open, securing a dominant 6-1 7-5 victory to knock the world number two out of the tournament.

The 31-year-old American took full advantage of Swiatek’s poor serving display, where the Polish star struggled with double faults and lost her opening service games. Collins quickly capitalized on these errors, dominating the first set in just 24 minutes.

Swiatek fought back in the second set after breaking Collins in the opening game, but was unable to maintain her advantage. Collins proved resilient, breaking Swiatek again in the crucial 12th game to seal the match with a second match point after Swiatek hit a backhand wide.

This was just Collins’ second win over the five-time Grand Slam champion in their nine encounters and her first on clay, Swiatek’s preferred surface.

Collins, who will now face Elina Svitolina in the fourth round, said: “It’s a huge win for me, and I’m really excited to get through to the next round.”

Swiatek, who had won the Italian Open in three of the last four years, will now regroup ahead of the French Open, starting on May 25, after struggling with form in the lead-up to the Rome tournament.

In other notable results:

• Elina Svitolina triumphed in a three-set battle with Hailey Baptiste, winning 6-4 3-6 6-4.
• Jasmine Paolini overcame Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-3, setting up a meeting with Jelena Ostapenko.
• Peyton Stearns defeated Madison Keys in a final-set tiebreaker and will play Naomi Osaka, who came from a set down to beat Marie Bouzkova.
• Diana Shnaider triumphed over Jaqueline Cristian and will meet Elise Mertens, who defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-1.

On the men’s side, Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain was beaten by Matteo Berrettini 6-4 7-6 (7-0).