Unlike many tennis players, Danielle Collins has never shied away from voicing her opinion in public. The American’s frank attitude is something which is endearing to many tennis lovers, especially in the United States. Collins did not hold back again and wrote a lengthy post on Instagram, describing all her issues with the tennis world.
Earlier this year, Danielle Collins announced her retirement from professional tennis. So with nothing to lose this season, the WTA star has played the best tennis of her career so far. Collins won back-to-back titles at the Miami Open and the Charleston Open.
However, every time she spoke to the media after that, she was asked to justify her success. This frustrated her and now, she has had more to say on this.
“With all of the attention around my retirement at the end of the year, the last couple weeks have been really challenging for me. I have found myself playing some of my best tennis but I’ve also found myself really dreading going into work and crying daily.
“The conversations with media around explaining my health challenges, being asked over and over again to justify my success, and constantly being questioned about retiring and wanting to start a family have been really draining.”
Collins also slammed fans and crowds for their hostile attitude. She also joined the long list of athletes who blasted tennis administrators for approving the scheduling of late-night fixtures in many tournaments. It made her realise that she had missed out on the things she loved to do.
But the biggest achievement for Collins is making it to the United States’ Olympics 2024 tennis team and she wrote about that too.
“After 6 months of playing a tournament almost every week, I can finally take some time to relax and recover. In the beginning of the season it was a goal of mine to qualify for the Olympics. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. I am very proud of my success over the last six months.”
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In the end, Collins thanked her boyfriend Bryan and her close friends and family for standing by her side through thick and thin. She will return soon for the grass court season, but her eyes will be on the Olympics.
Danielle Collins Is Pumped to Be Part of the United States Olympic Team
After a lot of struggles and sacrifice, Danielle Collins finally made it to the American team for the Olympics 2024. She has had her fair share of health issues. Collins was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2019, which caused swelling in her joints.
The 30-year-old failed to make it to the Olympics on many occasions in the past, which hurt her. Collins has not had it easy in tennis in an era where she had to play the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Iga Swiatek and other multiple Grand Slam champions.
But in the 2024 Olympics, Danielle Collins will be rubbing shoulders with Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys to represent the United States. Collins once spoke in an interview about her love for multi-team events as she has also played in the Billie Jean King Cup for the country.
“I would love nothing more to represent my country. My favorite memories on the court are honestly the weeks at the Billie Jean King Cup. There’s nothing, nothing like it,” as Town&Country reported.
Although she has jumped up to No.10 in the WTA rankings, playing in the Olympics in Paris this year is a no-brainer for her as she has nothing to lose from missing on tournaments running concurrently in July in the United States. Collins’ presence would make the USA one of the favorites to win gold at the event in tennis.
