Danielle Collins has addressed the response to her Australian Open controversy after crashing out of the tournament.
The world No. 11 stirred up debate when she riled up the crowd following her second-round win, gesturing to fans to kiss her bottom and telling them they were “paying her bills” after some spectators cheered on her mistakes.
Collins was booed again during her third-round clash on Saturday. But she believes the drama has been “a real blessing” as new sponsorship opportunities have poured in.
The 31-year-old became one of the biggest talking points Down Under for her antics after beating Destanee Aiava. Feeling that some of the fans took it too far during the match, she touched her ear and said “how about that?” after beating the Aussie qualifier.
Collins continued to blow sarcastic kisses before patting her bottom. And she reminded the crowd that she was taking home a “fat pay cheque”.
Her comments didn’t go down well and she was booed when she took to the court to face Madison Keys on Saturday evening. Collins’ run came to an end in round three as she suffered a straight-set defeat and raised injury fears when she had her knee strapped up.
After leaving the stadium to more jeers, the American addressed the media frenzy from the past few days and admitted she wasn’t surprised by the crowd response.
“I expected that obviously. That’s fine,” she said of the boos on Saturday night. “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.”
Collins has also taken the controversy in her stride, revealing that it has actually brought her new opportunities. “Obviously, I’m towards the end of my career,” the four-time title winner added.
“It’s wonderful that I can capitalise on these opportunities. I think that six different sponsorship opportunities come up 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.”
Collins has long been a divisive figure, but the 31-year-old has always been sure of who she is and is often unapologetically herself. Coco Gauff and Tim Henman have been among those branding her “authentic” in recent days.
And the world No. 11 explained that she wasn’t bothered by external opinions as she suggested tennis fans shouldn’t take things too personally or seriously. She continued: “I think we can try to make jokes and laugh.
“I don’t have a big ego when it comes to this. Honestly, I don’t care what’s 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.”
The American also told the fans that she would put her prize money towards a luxury holiday after winning her second-round tie on Thursday. And she admitted her rivals in the locker room had been joking about her vacation plans.
“I had a lot of my friends be like, ‘Well, am I getting invited on the yacht?’” she laughed. “A lot of the girls on tour were like, ‘Well, you’re inviting me, right?’
“That’s all that matters. At the end of the day, you can’t please everybody. The most important thing is your friends and family and what they think.
“Nobody got hurt. That’s the main thing. This is sports. I don’t think the banter is necessarily a terrible thing. I mean, I don’t know.”
With Collins’ Australian Open campaign coming to an end, she is now planning to play the Middle Eastern swing in Doha and Dubai before heading to Indian Wells and Miami. But her participation depends on whether she can recover in time after picking up a new knee injury.