After revealing she would be stepping away from tennis at the end of the 2024 season, tennis star Danielle Collins has shed some light on the "draining" questions surrounding her looming retirement.
Earlier this year in Melbourne, the American ace announced her plans to retire by the end of the season. However, she has gone on to play some of the best tennis of her career. A former Australian Open finalist in 2022, Collins experienced a resurgence of sorts after making her announcement. The 30-year old won back-to-back titles at the Miami Open and in Charleston, before finishing runner-up in Strasbourg a week later.
Collins' phenomenal play saw her rise into the top 10, in addition to securing a spot at the upcoming Olympic Games. Despite falling in the second round at Roland Garros, the American remains positive and took to social media to shed some light on how challenging it has been dealing with questions regarding her retirement.
"After 6 months of playing a tournament almost every week, I can finally take some time to relax and recover," she said in a post on Instagram. "In the beginning of the season it was a goal of mine to qualify for the Olympics. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. I am very proud of my success over the last six months.
“With all of the attention around my retirement at the end of the year, the last couple weeks have been really challenging for me. I have found myself playing some of my best tennis but I’ve also found myself really dreading going into work and crying daily. The conversations with media around explaining my health challenges, being asked over and over again to justify my success, and constantly being questioned about retiring and wanting to start a family have been really draining.
“It’s definitely exacerbated my feelings of being homesick, and with the craziness around rain delays and unfortunate match scheduling I have not had much time to get to do the activities I enjoy away from the courts. My sleep schedule had been pretty erratic due to some matches that were finishing up really late at night, so that definitely didn’t help.
“With all of the attention around my retirement at the end of the year, the last couple weeks have been really challenging for me. I have found myself playing some of my best tennis but I’ve also found myself really dreading going into work and crying daily. The conversations with media around explaining my health challenges, being asked over and over again to justify my success, and constantly being questioned about retiring and wanting to start a family have been really draining.
“It’s definitely exacerbated my feelings of being homesick, and with the craziness around rain delays and unfortunate match scheduling I have not had much time to get to do the activities I enjoy away from the courts. My sleep schedule had been pretty erratic due to some matches that were finishing up really late at night, so that definitely didn’t help.
"I’m so grateful for the support from my incredible boyfriend, Bryan, close friends, and also some really incredible fans over the past few weeks. The uplifting energy and encouragement means so much to me. I realize that there are much more important issues going on in the world right now. I just wanted to share all of this because success is not linear and no one is immune to having bad days.
"I I will be pampering myself with some self care over the next few days. I’m feeling really happy to finally get to enjoy some of my favorite activities and be reunited with Mr. Q. I will be back feeling refreshed and recharged for grass court season."
"I I will be pampering myself with some self care over the next few days. I’m feeling really happy to finally get to enjoy some of my favorite activities and be reunited with Mr. Q. I will be back feeling refreshed and recharged for grass court season."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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