Danielle Collins riffs on six-year gap between Miami semifinals: 'I definitely have a better outfit'

In 2018, Danielle Collins made Miami Open history as the first qualifier to ever reach the semifinals in the three-decade history of the tournament. A win on Wednesday over France's Caroline Garcia put the American back in that round, six years later, smack in the middle of what she's said is her final season as a touring tennis pro.

What's different? Besides being older and wiser, and a former Grand Slam finalist, that is.

"I definitley have a better outfit," Collins joked to Hard Rock Stadium emcee Andrew Krasny after a dominant 6-3, 6-2 victory in which she never faced a break point.

Back in 2018, Collins was just about 18 months removed from the second of her two career NCAA singles championships, and was ranked No. 93. Clad in a pink Nike cap, blush-pink sports bra, and a matching dark gray tank top and shorts, Collins upset then-No. 8 seed Venus Williams, who had reached two Grand Slam finals in 2017, among her victories before losing to Jelena Ostapenko.

"Back then, I was still ballin' on a budget," Collins quipped.

"The outfit game this tournament, I really like it," Collins later told Prakash Amritraj on Tennis Channel, shouting out her sponsor, FP Movement from the American clothing brand Free People.

"This outfit is my favorite, so I think that's the biggest difference that I know. I played really great tennis that year too, but I was relatively new on tour and still learning lots of new things. I'm still learning now, of course, but I have more experience under my belt.

"We're playing at a different facility, different vibe, different energy here, so I love that ... I'm just getting older!"

Since losing her first set of the tournament to her compatriot Bernarda Pera, Collins has won 10 straight sets to return to the final four—and hasn't lost more than four games in any of those sets.

Crediting "small changes" and "physical adjustments" that have "helped [her] be able to kind of control my shots more and hit them with more accuracy and precision" for her success at this event, Collins will next bid for a berth in her first career WTA 1000 final when she faces No. 14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.