Danielle Collins is having a great farewell season and has now reached the quarterfinals of the Miami Open 2024. As she inches closer to bidding the sport adieu, here is a look at the five instances when she grabbed eyeballs on and off the court.
1. Collins sarcastically blew kisses towards her opponent’s fans
Collins beat #19 seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals in Miami. The latter is herself on a late-career rejuvenation and has gained many fans. During their fourth round clash, many Romanian fans were present to cheer for Cirstea. They also missed no opportunity to go against their favourite player’s opponent.
However, Collins got past Cirstea with no trouble. As she walked to the net after the winning point, she blew a kiss towards the stands where the Romanian viewers were seated. It was an apparently sarcastic gesture after defeating their best player.
2. When Danielle Collins joked about being the best
Collins’ career-best Grand Slam result was reaching the final of the Australian Open in 2022. During a press conference in the tournament, she left everyone, including herself, in splits and the video spread like wildfire.
She said she tries to be the best at whatever she does, before hilariously adding that even if she is not doing good, she still tells herself that she is the best. Collins burst into laughter after saying this, before stating that you need to have that belief.
3. Fans rallied by her after Collins announced medical condition
2019 started off as a great year for Danielle Collins after a breakthrough performance at the Australian Open, making it to the semi-finals. She also broke into the top 25 after that.
However, towards the end of the season, she took to Instagram to reveal her Rheumatoid Arthritis diagnosis (WTA). This required her to heavily modify her diet, training, and playing schedules. Her post was shared far and wide and many fans and fellow tennis players came forward to support her.
4. Her ‘Come-on’ yells are hilariously famous
Throughout her career, Danielle Collins has developed an identity as a player who embraces her quirks. Like Maria Sharapova was (in)famous for her heavy grunting in the previous generation, Collins’ has become renowned for shouting loudly, especially the phrase ‘come on!’. Fans love how she has embraced the habit and does not try to reduce it. There are some hilarious fan-made clips of the American’s screams.
During a post-match on-court interview at the Miami Open 2024, the anchor asked Collins if someone on the WTA Tour could succeed in screaming ‘come on!’ like her. She picked her younger compatriot Peyton Stearns, trusting her to ‘carry the torch’.
5. When Danielle Collins told Maria Sakkari to shut up
Coming in through the qualifying rounds, Collins squared off against Sakkari in the second round of the Canadian Open 2023. She won the first set before an argument ensued midway the second.
Sakkari’s serve was called as a fault, following which she smacked the ball onto the court. It bounced up and went into the stands where many people were seated. Even as the Greek prepared to serve again, Collins took objection to her conduct.
She complained to the chair umpire about Sakkari hitting the ball, to which the 8th seed retorted saying it did not hit anyone. Collins was not ready to hear any of it, telling her opponent to “shut her mouth” and get on with the tennis.
