Danielle Collins has once again made it pretty clear that she has had enough of the “you are playing more freely because you are retiring” talk as the American tennis star blasted the conversation as “boring” and something that distracts from the actual fact that she has made improvements to her game.
Since nearly upsetting world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open and revealing in her post-match press conference that this was her last season, 30-year-old Collins has been playing the tennis of her career.
But Collins becoming a WTA 1000 champion in Miami, winning a WTA 500 tournament in Charleston and returning to the top-10 after two years also led to constant questions about whether she would change her mind and continue playing.
After recently also being a semifinalist in Rome and finishing as runner-up in Strasbourg last week, Collins also started her French Open run with a 6-3 6-4 win over Caroline Dolehide. With that win, the 30-year-old American improved to a 36-10 record in 2024.
“I feel like there’s been a lot of conversation around, ‘Oh, you announced your retirement, so perhaps you’re playing more free.’ I don’t really know what that means as a 30-year-old woman who has a lot of freedom in her life. I really am confused by that. But I feel like I’ve always had a good amount of confidence on the court,” Collins said.
“I feel like I’ve provided pretty boring conversation in the sense of like, you know, it’s a lot of hard work and figuring things out and figuring out how to make little adjustments on your shots and improve little by little technically and tactically. I feel like I just keep putting people to sleep with that, but really I think a lot of the success over the last couple of weeks and months is a product of things clicking because I have made those improvements.”
Danielle Collins © Getty Images Sport – Johannes Simon
Collins on needing some time before making a real breakthrough
Although Collins is 30, she hasn’t been that long on the WTA Tour as she played college tennis before turning pro in 2016. Two years after turning pro, Collins won her first WTA title in Newport Beach and since then she has added four more titles to her collection.
Also in 2022 January, Collins made her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open before losing to Ashleigh Barty. Following a runner-up finish at the Australian Open, Collins also broke into the top-10 for the first time in her career.
While the 30-year-old American has definitely made a nice career for herself, it took her a couple of years before she started making really big results.
“But I think it’s been kind of a process and I think people forget sometimes too that I didn’t turn pro until later in life and so I’ve really been on tour for like six or seven years. So, there’s much younger people who have just as much experience as me,” Collins explained.
“It takes time, I don’t think a lot of people on tour go into these have uber-successful careers. There are a few, of course, especially some young ones that we’re very well aware of. It does take people time to be able to find their groove and find that success. It doesn’t always just come like this (snapping her fingers).”
Danielle Collins© Getty Images Sport – Elsa
Why Collins is really retiring at 30?
Since revealing her intention to walk away from pro tennis at some point this year, Collins several times spoke about her desire to become a mother. But sadly, there is one thing that is making it harder for Collins to achieve her motherhood dreams as the American tennis star is living with endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory disease that is making it harder for her to get pregnant.
And when Collins retires, she will be able to focus better on tackling the disease and hopefully achieve her motherhood dreams.
“I’m living with a chronic inflammatory disease that affects your ability to get pregnant. That’s a deeply personal situation. I’ve explained that from time to time,” Collins said in March.
“At the end of the day, this is my personal choice. This is so much more than just tennis and my career. I’m enjoying my career. I’m having a lot of fun. I love coming out here and competing. But this is a really big life decision and that should be pretty understandable.”
Danielle Collins © Getty Images Sport – Elsa
Meanwhile, Collins plays against world No. 125 Olga Danilovic in the French Open second round. For Collins and Danilovic, this will be their second overall meeting but also their second meeting this clay season. Previously, Collins edged out Danilovic 4-6 6-4 7-6 (8) in Madrid a month ago.
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