This is the final #AusOpen for Danielle Collins, who confirmed she will stop competing after this year. We wish our 2022 finalist the very best ❤️
Danielle Collins drops retirement bombshell after losing effort in Iga Swiatek epic, plans to quit tennis following 2024 season
WTAThursday, 18 January 2024 at 07:49
After leaving it all on court during her epic against Iga Swiatek at the 2024 Australian Open, Danielle Collins has confirmed that she plans to retire at the end of the 2024 season so will not return to Melbourne again, the site of one of her greatest runs back in 2022 all the way to the final.
Swiatek was 4-1 down and 40-0 staring down the barrel at a defeat again against Collins who two years ago overwhelmed the Pole to reach her maiden Grand Slam final. But as ever, the World No.1 showed grit and true fighting spirit to turn the tables after initially being a set and a break up against Collins to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
But the 30-year-old seemingly has given one of her last battles of her career after admitting that there are aspects of her life outside of tennis she wishes to explore and that she is pleased with her efforts after dropping the bombshell which was previously not announced.
"Yeah, this is going to be my last season, actually, competing," Collins told reporters. "I don't really know exactly when, but this will be my last season and I'm really looking forward to that.
"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.
"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 have the time to be able to do that. Obviously having kids is a big priority for me."
On that defeat, it was a proud effort for Collins despite being so close to pulling off the unthinkable again. "I lost 6-4 in the third to one of the best players in the world, and she played some great tennis," Collins said. "Left it all on the court.
"Her game and her career speaks for itself. I think we all know what to expect against Iga. I had to try to counter that as much as I could, I did that well at many moments. Other moments, it got away from me."
"At this point, I'm kind of at the end of my career and [losses] don't sting quite as much, to be honest," Collins concluded. "I feel like I have kind of gotten to the point where obviously they matter and my career means a lot to me, but at the end of the day, you either win or you lose, and that's all there is to it."
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