Danielle Collins opens up on mental struggles surrounding her impending retirement

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.

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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.

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"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."