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Collins and defending champion Jabeur played the first match of the day at the clay-court event after rain Wednesday led to several matches being postponed.

None of it appeared to bother the 30-year-old Collins, who spent just over three hours on the court in the two matches combined.

She topped Jabeur 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in 2 hours, 3 minutes, then returned about five hours later to take out former U.S. Open champion Stephens 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 11 minutes. Stephens won the title at Charleston in 2016.

“I can't remember the last time I played five sets in a day,� Collins said. "It was probably like, the juniors and 12-and-unders.

“But the inclement weather, we had to adjust,� she continued, “and I think on these days, you have to be really flexible and versatile out there.�

Jabeur, ranked sixth, lost her opening match for a fourth consecutive tournament. Jabeur is 2-6 this season.

The 22nd-ranked Collins will next face Elise Mertens, who also won twice Thursday.

Mertens, ranked 30th, needed 2 hours, 30 minutes to beat Vavara Gracheva 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the morning. She returned in the evening to defeat 15th-ranked Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-1 in just over an hour.

Top-seeded Jessica Pegula also reached the final eight, beating Magda Linette 6-2, 6-2. The fifth-ranked Pegula will face Victoria Azarenka in the quarters.

“I think I served really smart and I was playing well in these conditions, which were really tricky,� Pegula said. “And luckily, I was able to play the controlled, aggressive mentality in the wind and I was kind of able to pressure her.�

Azarenka rallied to defeat Taylor Townsend 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.

Veronika Kudermetova, who won this title in 2021, advanced with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia, and will take on seventh-ranked Maria Sakkari, who defeated Astra Sharma 6-4, 6-1.

Collins lost her first set at Miami last month before winning the next 16 on the way to the championship.

She said Jabeur is a tricky player with a variety of shots that force her opponents to stay mentally ready.

“I have a little bit of experience with that, so I definitely knew how to handle it, and handled it the best as I could,� Collins said. “Then just stayed mentally resilient.�

Jabeur said she ran into a player on a big-time roll.

“It's tough to play players that have confidence and Danielle is playing really good,� Jabeur said.

Jaqueline Cristian, playing Charleston for the first time, defeated her second top-20 player this week. She followed a win over 18th-ranked Madison Keys by beating No. 20 Emma Navarro 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

Cristian led 5-4 in the second set before Navarro fought off two match points and took the set. The Romanian quickly shook it off.

“You're ready for it. You live in the present,� Cristian said. “You don't worry about what happened in the second set or the first, just the point itself.�

Cristian, ranked 83rd, will try to upend her third top-20 opponent when she plays 11th-ranked Daria Kasatkina, who beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 6-4.

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AP tennis: