"To reach top 10 means the world to me" says Collins despite Australian Open final defeat

After advancing to her first major final at the Australian Open, the 28-year-old Floridian will make her Top 10 debut Monday and leave as the highest-ranked American on either the WTA or ATP tours.

Speaking after the match, the very dissapointed Collins admitted that reaching the top 10 was a longstanding dream of hers:

"I think it hasn't really fully set in yet, because for a while I've wanted to be a Top 10 player, it was a goal of mine last year, I fell a little bit short. To reach it this early on in the season has meant the world to me. I think that I just have to keep going day by day and just work towards my goals. There are other things that I'm going to want to achieve moving forward."

Collins is a popular player on the tour especially after openly speaking about her health struggles. Her play and dedication to the game found her many fans on the tour and she admitted that she received widespread support:

"I've gotten so much support from other players especially, which has been so nice and it's something that I love so much about our sport is the camaraderie a lot of us share in the locker room and the friendships. I really think that for an individual sport and being as competitive as we all are, it's amazing some of the friendships that we share."