MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Maybe it’s because the Miami Open is just a drive across the state from Danielle Collins’ St. Petersburg home and she can have her precious dog, Quincy (Mr. Q), with her. Maybe it’s because she announced she is retiring at the end of this year and she’s playing with more freedom.

Or maybe it’s the tweaking she recently did to her game, small adjustments that keep her body in better control.

Whatever it is, it’s working, as 30-year-old Collins eased into the Miami Open semifinals Wednesday for the second time in her career by beating No. 23 seed Caroline Garcia of France 6-3, 6-2.

She will face the winner of the Wednesday night quarterfinal between fifth seeded American Jessica Pegula or Russian 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Collins, the unseeded American, played a near flawless match against Garcia that she raced through in 80 minutes on the Hard Rock Stadium center court. She did not face a single break point, won 89.7% of her first serve points, had 22 winners and converted three of her eight break-point chances.

It is the first time since she reached the 2022 Australian Open finals that she won five consecutive matches.

“A lot of the sports psychology books when they talk about high-level sports, they talk about being in the zone, almost feeling like you’re hitting beach balls; I think I can feel like that at times,” Collins said. “That’s a good thing. In other times I’ve placed well and had deep runs in tournaments, it’s been like that.

“And then other times, it’s like going out to the golf driving range and having a bad day, missing shots. But right now, I’m timing the ball really well. I’ve made some physical adjustments that’s helped me control my shots more and hit them with more accuracy and precision.”

Garcia, who beat Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff to reach the quarterfinals, had no answers for Collins.

“Obviously, today was not what I wanted, but she was better,” Garcia said. “She was hitting the ball really well, with a lot of power and precision.”

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