In the last lap of her professional career, Danielle Collins is making the most of it. She has already won two back-to-back WTA titles—the Miami Open and the Charleston Open—and she has now reached the quarter-finals of the Italian Open 2024. Amid her stellar form, Collins appeared on the Served With Andy Roddick podcast recently. Besides praising her for the scintillating form that she is in, Andy Roddick also offered her a cool gig when she retires.
There will be questions on how Danielle Collins plans to spend her retirement life from an early age of 30. It seems like Andy Roddick, who is a huge fan of hers, has the perfect answer.
Andy Roddick couldn’t be more excited to welcome Danielle Collins on his show. Such is his admiration for her that he even refused to give her any tips ahead of her next round, solely because he believes she doesn’t need any. Roddick is beyond impressed by how she is playing right now and believes she should continue to play the same way for the remainder of her career.
Danielle Collins: “Andy, you got any tips for me on court?”
Andy Roddick: “For on court, not right now. I wouldn’t tell you a damn thing right now with the way that you’ve been playing.”
Danielle Collins: “Really? Awww that’s now fun.”
Andy Roddick: “No. No chance. No, Set yourself up in the middle of the court and just distribute the way you’ve been doing it.
“We were talking about after Charleston, I said, ‘The way you are playing reminds me a little bit of my idol, Andre Agassi, where he would set himself up right in the middle. Can go line, can go cross. But it was always on you in a hurry, you always felt like you were rushed and it never stopped. It was like suffocating. So, there is not a chance with the way you’ve been playing that I would give you one piece of advice. Keep doing it, keep enjoying it.”
Being compared to the 8-time Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi is a huge compliment for Collins. But that’s how highly Roddick rates her. Continuing their conversation, the 2003 US Open winner finally made her the offer. Roddick was quoted as saying:
“Enjoy the rest of the year. We’ve enjoyed watching you, this year it has been just phenomenal to see. I’m glad that people are kind of seeing, the post-match interviews in Miami and Charleston. I think you are really flashing the personality maybe more than we’ve been able to see before, and it’s just been great to watch. Nothing but success, and then if you’re bored in retirement, come and join us and we’ll have longer conversations.”
Absolutely no notes pic.twitter.com/stMJIBzvzA
— Served with Andy Roddick (@Served_Podcast) May 14, 2024
Andy Roddick might also bring Danielle Collins to join the likes of him, Brett Haber, Chanda Rubin, Prakash Amritraj, and others in the commentary panel for the Tennis Channel. It’s an offer Collins might want to mull over.
Andy Roddick is renowned for backing the people he believes in, to the fullest. Take Andy Murray for example, who was the target of a scathing online attack by a BBC journalist earlier this year. The journalist tried to tarnish Murray’s reputation as he put a huge question mark on his form and suggested that he retires from the sport.
It was Andy Roddick who vehemently defended Murray and his decision. The ex-American player also sided with Murray on multiple occasions before that. And when it comes to Danielle Collins, Roddick had encouraging words for her not too long ago after seeing the criticism she faced for her Madrid Open loss.
How Andy Roddick Rushed to Danielle Collins’ Defense After Madrid Open 2024
Andy Roddick was one of the first ex-tennis players to console Danielle Collins following her disappointing performance against Aryna Sabalenka at the Madrid Open 2024.
Daniele Collins was in the middle of her dream run, winning 15 matches on a trot. It finally ended when Aryna Sabalenka beat her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the Round of 16.
Speaking on the Tennis Channel Live podcast, Andy Roddick said that Danielle Collins has played exceptionally well so far and that she will continue to play well. However, everyone can lose once in a while. Roddick was quoted as saying:
“I know Danielle Collins has played great stuff winning Miami, winning in Charleston. She’s allowed to lose sometimes. Sabalenka by the way won the Australian Open this year, so not like an upset let’s not treat it like an upset yet.”
Roddick was trying to save her from the stingy attacks by critics regarding Collins’ form. They inevitably come for every player once they lose a match. Roddick wasn’t just supporting Collins blindly, he had a point about the player still being in great touch.
She is only the third American, besides Coco Gauff and Madison Keys, who is fighting for the Italian Open title at present. Danielle Collins is set to face Victoria Azarenka in the race to the semi-finals.
