Danielle Collins lost to Iga Swiatek in the second round of the 2024 Australian Open, and after the loss, she announced she would soon be retiring from the sport.
The American played a sensational match at the Rod Laver Arena, where she stood in the final against Ashleigh Barty in 2022. She pushed Swiatek to the limit, leading 4-2 and 40-0 in the third set of the thrilling match.
Eventually, Collins lost the match in three sets after Swiatek completed an inspired comeback worthy of a world no. 1 in the WTA Rankings. However, the fact that the American pushed her so much wasn't surprising, as she's one of the best hitters on the WTA Tour.
Yet, we may not see her anymore after this season, as Collins shockingly revealed during her post-match press conference that this would be her last season in professional tennis.
Initially, she was asked about handling losses, and while answering the question, Collins used words "at the end of my career" which was an interesting way to put the sentence, but she soon after she more light on the situation.
"At this point, you know, I'm kind of at the end of my career and they don't sting quite as much, to be honest. I feel like I have kind of gotten to the point where obviously they matter and, you know, my career means a lot to me, but the end of the day, you know, you either win or you lose, and that's all there is to it."
Asked a follow up on her "end of my career" claims, reporters were not sure if the American used these words because she's already in her 30s, so objectively closer to ending than to when she started, or if she has some plans that no one knew about.
Collins immediately clarified, saying that she plans to retire from tennis during the 2024 season, even though she doesn't yet know when exactly it will happen.
"Yeah, 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."
For Collins, most likely date when she may retire would be between August 26th to September 8th, when the 2024 US Open is held at Flushing Meadows, her only home Grand Slam, where she never got past the fourth round.
Asked to elaborate more on her decision, the former world no. 7 hinted that it is related to constant travel as well as scheduling, which has in the most recent years become one of the most challenging parts for the vast majority of tennis players.
"Yeah, 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."
On top of that, Collins wants to dedicate time to things outside of tennis, and as many of her colleagues on the WTA Tour, she wants to have kids.
"I have other things that I'd kind of like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis, and would like to be able to kind of, you know, be able to have the time to be able to do that. Obviously having kids is a big priority for me, so..."
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