Danielle Collins is retiring.
Not in the sense of being timid or withdrawn, you understand; far from it, on the tennis court at least. There is a reason the 30-year-old Floridian has nicknames ranging from Danimal and Tenacious D to the Queen of the Come On, as she was christened earlier this week at the Miami Open, and you need only Google the phrase “Danielle Collins scream” for that reason to become apparent.
To be clear, Collins is actually retiring – as in, hanging up her racket, finishing her career, giving up the day job. This is not news. Collins announced her plans, in terms that were both clear and succinct, following a desperately close three-set loss to Iga Swiatek at this year’s Australian Open.
“This is going to be my last season,” said Collins. “I have other things that I’d like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis, and would like to be able to have the time to be able to do that. Obviously, having kids is a big priority for me.”
Anyone familiar with her medical history would understand why Collins is eager to start a family. Three years ago, she had a large cyst removed from her ovary following a diagnosis of endometriosis that, thanks to medical experts who failed to fully investigate her complaints of agonising periods and debilitating back pain, had been five years in the making. Endometriosis causes tissue lining the womb to grow outside of it; in Collins’s case, that tissue had displaced her uterus, causing it to press against a spinal nerve.
Surgery brought relief, and nine months later the American achieved the finest result of her career, blasting her way past Swiatek to reach the Australian Open final, where she was beaten by Ashleigh Barty. That run propelled Collins into the world’s top 10 for the first time, and if anyone needed a reminder that she remains eminently capable of such tennis, the evidence has been plentiful in Miami. Mining a rich seam of form, Collins has powered her way past a trio of seeds in Anastasia Potapova, Sorana Cirstea and Caroline Garcia to reach the second WTA 1000 semi-final of her career, six years after her first – also in Miami.
But tennis isn’t everything, not to Collins, and she is acutely aware that the chronic inflammatory condition with which she is dealing – she was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2019 – can make it harder to get pregnant. So when she says she is retiring, it’s a safe bet she’s not kidding.
However, not everyone is convinced. The quality of her performances has done nothing to allay the scepticism of those who find it unfathomable that a player who led Swiatek by a double break in the final set at Melbourne Park, reached the quarter-finals in Doha as a qualifier, and is now a win away from reaching the second biggest final of her career, should want to call it quits.
Evidently weary of being pressed on the subject, Collins pushed back when asked if results like those she has achieved this week might encourage her to reconsider her future, wondering out loud whether a male player would continue to face such questions.
“I feel like I have had to justify my decision a lot,” said Collins. “I feel like if I was a guy, I probably wouldn’t have to justify it that much.”
Andy Murray, who has found himself in the same boat despite clearly laying out his retirement plans, could probably set Collins straight on that one. More germane is the fact that Collins’s pursuit of personal happiness is being seen through the lens of her status as a public figure; while she has made a decision based on what is best for her as an individual, others see only Danielle Collins the tennis player. She is alive to the gulf in perception, but she remains perplexed by it.
“I think it’s really interesting how, in a lot of different situations, I have had to kind of justify the reasons behind retirement,” said Collins following her 6-3, 6-2 quarter-final win over Garcia.
“I’m living with a chronic inflammatory disease that affects your ability to get pregnant, and so that’s a deeply personal situation. I’ve explained that from time to time.
“At the end of the day, this is my personal choice. This is just so much more to do [with] 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 at the end of the day, this is a really big life decision, and I think that that should be pretty understandable.”
So it should, but in the meantime there is a title to be fought for. On Thursday, Collins will face Ekaterina Alexandrova, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Jessica Pegula, for a place in the final.
“She has had an incredible run and incredible couple of months,” said Collins of the Russian 14th seed, who claimed the biggest win of her career against Swiatek on Tuesday.
“It’s been great to see how her game has evolved over the years, and the way that she’s been playing has been really exciting.”
The same could be said for Collins, who has never faced Alexandrova before but will not be intimidated by a player cast in her own powerful mould. Currently ranked 53 in the world, she will go in as a notional underdog. Those who have witnessed her fearsome ball-striking over the past eight days may struggle to see it that way; those who have not should catch her while they still can.