Danielle Collins opens up on her battle with endometriosis - "It was incredibly debilitating"

American tennis star Danielle Collins has had an impressive season, winning her first two WTA titles back-to-back in Palermo and San Jose. However, the 27-year old has been struggling with issues off the court, as she has been living with endometriosis for the better part of her adult life.

Endometriosis is a condition which sees cells similar to those that line the womb grow in other places, which often leads to intense abdominal pain and menstrual irregularities. In a recent interview with Eurosport, Collins opened up about living with the condition, and how it affected her quality of life.

"I’ve always had painful periods but I remember a couple of years ago being woken from my sleep and immediately needing to drive to the pharmacy to buy anti-inflammatories just to be able to get through the night," recalled Collins. "It was incredibly debilitating - there was one occasion when I physically couldn’t get on a plane to travel to my next tournament as a result of my period starting.

"Then there were times I was forced to retire from my matches because I would get this stabbing pain from my back down to my foot as my uterus had flipped back and put pressure on the sciatic nerve. It would mean regularly withdrawing from tournaments because my body just wouldn’t allow me to train or compete."

After much medical consultation, the World No.31 finally decided to take time off in April and have laparoscopic surgery, which is one of the treatments for the condition. Following the procedure, she developed a new-found confidence in herself on and off the court.

"I had a bit of a breakthrough a few weeks later in Palermo - incidentally because I had a bit of tendonitis in my elbow so that distracted me from what was going on with my abdominal area," said Collins. "All of a sudden, it was great because I no longer had the pain I’d been feeling in my abs and everything just felt good. I won my first WTA title there and then my second just a week later in San Jose - I was just in this amazing groove!

"I had a feeling it would have only made things better but I didn’t quite realize how drastically. It honestly made a day and night difference; not having the worry of my period coming and thinking out all scenarios of how badly it will impact my performance, how I’ll have to adjust my training, how I’ll need to get extra sleep… Just knowing that I can now hang in there physically, and mentally, without having the lingering fear of being stuck with awful symptoms for up to two weeks has really helped me turn over a new leaf and given me so much more confidence moving forward."