American tennis star Danielle Collins fought tooth and nail against World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in their Round 2 women’s singles match at the 2024 Australian Open on Thursday. After three grueling sets, Collins lost. But what awaited her fans was slightly sadder, since the 30-year-old announced her retirement from professional tennis after the end of this season.
“This is going to be my last season, actually, competing. I don’t really know exactly when, but this will be my last season and I’m really looking forward to that,” said Collins right after her loss to Swiatek.
Collins lost the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 before her shock announcement. She said that having kids is the primary reason for her stepping away from the sport.
“You know, I feel like I’ve had a pretty good career. There has certainly been ups and downs to it, and I think the travel and some of the things away from the court with scheduling and all of that, this is a really tough sport,” continued Collins.
It was the grueling nature of the highly competitive sport and the physical and mental toll it takes to be at the top of one’s game, that would be hard to balance with personal life.
Collins has had an incredible career, with the biggest highlight being the 2022 Australian Open when she came closest to winning. She lost the finals to Ashleigh Barty 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). This year at the Majors too, Collins beat Angelique Kerber, who was the World No. 1 player at one point in time. She won 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
A former top 10 player, Collins is retiring as a 3-time WTA Tour title champion. She won two singles titles at the 2021 Palermo Open and 2021 Silicon Valley Classic, and one doubles title at the 2023 Charleston Open.
Danielle Collins pulled off some top performances
With numerous tough battles over the years, counting up to her recent one against Swiatek, here are the Top 5 matches that Danielle Collins won –
v Angelique Kerber (2019 Australian Open)
Before beating Angelique Kerber in this year’s Australian Open in the Round of 128, Collins beat the German star once before at the Majors. That was during the 2019 Australian Open, when Collins reached the semifinals, and en route, beat Kerber in the Round of 16 of the tournament. It was a much bigger deal then since Kerber was World No. 2 at the time, and Collins comprehensively knocked her out of the Top 8. She won the match 6-2, 6-0.
vs Garbine Muguraza (2020 French Open)
By 2020, Collins had made it a habit of beating higher-ranked and seeded players at various tournaments. However, her big victory came against two-time Grand Slam winner and former World No. 1 Spanish-Venezuelan Garbine Muguraza. Collins beat her 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 before beating Ons Jabeur 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and reaching the quarter-finals. She was finally stopped by fellow American Sofia Kenin, who lost to Iga Swiatek at the 2024 Australian Open.
vs Simona Halep (2021 Canadian Open)
2021 was a big year for Collins, winning both her WTA Tour singles titles to date. However, it was at the Canadian Open that year where she beat Simona Halep in the Round of 64. Halep, who had previously beaten Collins at the 2014 US Open, was found looking for answers on that occasion. Collins lost the first set 2-6 but bounced back roaringly 6-4, 6-4 to win the match. She lost to Jessica Pegula in the Round of 32.
vs Iga Swiatek (2022 Australian Open)
The 2022 Australian Open, the biggest moment of Collins’s career, was when she reached the finals. But before losing to Ashleigh Barty, she had beaten Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. Swiatek was still a Top 10 player in the ATP world rankings, and Collins beat her in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
vs Giuliana Olmos and Ena Shibahara (2023 Charleston Open)
Collins won her only WTA Tour doubles title last year against Giuliana Olmos and Ena Shibahara of Mexico and Japan respectively. She partnered alongside American Desirae Krawczyk to beat the top-seeded players in the final. While Olmos and Shibahara won the first set 6-0, Krawczyk and Collins won the second set 6-4, before winning the final set 14-12.
