Danielle Collins on Fernandez: “Leylah is such a great representative of this country. She displays what Canadians are about. Kindness, hard work, so many wonderful qualities. Hopefully I’ll have more people at some point. But we’re all just grateful play in full stadiums.” ❤️
(VIDEO) "Hopefully I'll have more people at some point": Collins takes dig at Canadian Open crowd while praising Fernandez
WTAFriday, 11 August 2023 at 18:15
Danielle Collins has taken a slight dig at the crowd watching her match at the National Bank Canadian Open (Omnium Banque Nationale) in Montreal, but also praised her opponent Leylah Fernandez.
World No. 48 Collins defeated 2021 US Open finalist Fernandez in straight sets to progress through to the quarter-finals at the WTA 1000 event. The American won 83% of her points on her first serve and 74% on her second serve, and won the match in an hour and 20 minutes, 6-2, 6-3.
However, as her opponent was playing on home soil, Collins found that a lot of the crowd's support and energy was naturally going behind Fernandez.
Collins hopes for more support 'at some point'
During her on-court interview, Collins was asked:
"How was it tonight to play the local favourite in front of
this crowd?"
In response, the 29-year-old addressed the immense support for Leylah, praising her opponent and calling her 'a great representative' of Canada.
"Yeah, I mean I totally get it, Leylah is such a great representative of this country. She displays what Canadians are about. Kindness, hard work, so many wonderful qualities."
Read also
Collins went on to add that she hopes to have more support at some point in the future, but is mostly just grateful to be playing in full stadiums.
"Hopefully I’ll have some more people at some point, but I think
we’re all just grateful to be playing in full stadiums and having the energy
either way," she added.
Fernandez's defeat means that there are no more Canadian players remaining at the tournament in Montreal. Collins will now go on to face a difficult challenge, as she is set to play world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in her quarter-final match.
Just In
Popular News
