‘A real blessing’ – Danielle Collins tells booing Aussies she got six sponsorship offers
American tennis star Danielle Collins revealed she has received six sponsorship offers after her controversial Australian Open run. Collins was booed off the court after her fourth round loss Grand Slam exit as she lost to Madison Keys on Saturday. Collins was booed during her Australian Open exitAFP That crowd response was fueled by the 31-year-old’s actions in her previous outing against Destanee Aiava. During that contest the 31-year-old became the pantomime villain by taunting hecklers, blowing kisses and slapping her backside. Collins joked that those who heckled were contributing to ‘the Danielle Collins fund’ and a trip to the Bahamas. So when the 10th seed walked out to face Keys, it was clear to see that she was not a crowd favourite. After committing her first double fault, the crowd cheered which led to the umpire calling for fans to respect both competitors. Despite that, Collins was 4-3 down before a medical timeout was called due to a knee injury suffered by the Australian. That led to Collins going on to lose 6-4 6-4 as she crashed out of the slam in the fourth round. Speaking after the match, Collins admitted that the boos were expected but that there was a surprise upside to her role as the villain. She explained: “Like I said, I really do enjoy playing in these types of environments. It’s what you work so hard for your entire life as a kid. I embraced it. “Obviously, I’m towards the end of my career, it’s wonderful that I can capitalise on these opportunities. “I think that six different sponsorship opportunities come up in this tournament alone, that’s a great signal for me. Obviously, like I said, every fan contributes to that. It’s been a real blessing..” Danielle Collins and Destanee Aiava embrace after the home talent was defeated It came after she riled fans in her third round victory Novak Djokovic chimed in and said he ‘loved her response’. A professional who has also had his back and forths with crowds throughout his illustrious career. The taunting of opponents has become something of a norm in Melbourne with Jack Draper being jeered as he entered the court and then booed for the whole match in his second-round win over home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis. Asked about claims of her being a brat, Collins added: “‘Someone was telling me the average age of people watching tennis is 65. Collins added: “I think we need to bring some entertainment to the game and make jokes and laugh, I don’t have a big ego when it comes to this, I don’t care what is written about me. ‘I don’t care what some guy living in his basement is writing on the internet. You know what I mean? ‘I’m just trying to have fun. I’m just try to enjoy my life and have fun with it.’ But despite crashing out, Collins says that some lucrative offers mean that she’ll be just fineGetty “You can’t please everybody. Earlier in my career I was more concerned about what people think and I was much more guarded about my personality. “Maybe with age comes an attitude of being yourself and accepting who you are. I’m proud of myself, I’ve gotten to the point where I really don’t care anymore about what people who aren’t important to me think.” Two months ago Collins announced her retirement reversal after previously saying 2024 was her last year on tour. The former Australian Open finalist was to retire in October 2024 with plans to start a family but decided she would tour in 2025 after health struggles. Collins was diagnosed with the condition endometriosis in 2021, which she has said caused fertility issues.
American tennis star Danielle Collins revealed she has received six sponsorship offers after her controversial Australian Open run.
Collins was booed off the court after her fourth round loss Grand Slam exit as she lost to Madison Keys on Saturday.
That crowd response was fueled by the 31-year-old’s actions in her previous outing against Destanee Aiava.
During that contest the 31-year-old became the pantomime villain by taunting hecklers, blowing kisses and slapping her backside.
Collins joked that those who heckled were contributing to ‘the Danielle Collins fund’ and a trip to the Bahamas.
So when the 10th seed walked out to face Keys, it was clear to see that she was not a crowd favourite.
After committing her first double fault, the crowd cheered which led to the umpire calling for fans to respect both competitors.
Despite that, Collins was 4-3 down before a medical timeout was called due to a knee injury suffered by the Australian.
That led to Collins going on to lose 6-4 6-4 as she crashed out of the slam in the fourth round.
Speaking after the match, Collins admitted that the boos were expected but that there was a surprise upside to her role as the villain.
She explained: “Like I said, I really do enjoy playing in these types of environments. It’s what you work so hard for your entire life as a kid. I embraced it.
“Obviously, I’m towards the end of my career, it’s wonderful that I can capitalise on these opportunities.
“I think that six different sponsorship opportunities come up in this tournament alone, that’s a great signal for me. Obviously, like I said, every fan contributes to that. It’s been a real blessing..”
Novak Djokovic chimed in and said he ‘loved her response’. A professional who has also had his back and forths with crowds throughout his illustrious career.
The taunting of opponents has become something of a norm in Melbourne with Jack Draper being jeered as he entered the court and then booed for the whole match in his second-round win over home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Asked about claims of her being a brat, Collins added: “‘Someone was telling me the average age of people watching tennis is 65.
Collins added: “I think we need to bring some entertainment to the game and make jokes and laugh, I don’t have a big ego when it comes to this, I don’t care what is written about me.
‘I don’t care what some guy living in his basement is writing on the internet. You know what I mean?
‘I’m just trying to have fun. I’m just try to enjoy my life and have fun with it.’
“You can’t please everybody. Earlier in my career I was more concerned about what people think and I was much more guarded about my personality.
“Maybe with age comes an attitude of being yourself and accepting who you are. I’m proud of myself, I’ve gotten to the point where I really don’t care anymore about what people who aren’t important to me think.”
Two months ago Collins announced her retirement reversal after previously saying 2024 was her last year on tour.
The former Australian Open finalist was to retire in October 2024 with plans to start a family but decided she would tour in 2025 after health struggles.
Collins was diagnosed with the condition endometriosis in 2021, which she has said caused fertility issues.
