"With women, it becomes a way bigger issue": Danielle Collins breaks silence on on-court incident with Iga Swiatek

America’s Danielle Collins has opened up the on-court incident involving Poland’s Iga Swiatek during the Paris Olympics. Both players faced off in the quarterfinal of the singles event where the former world number one came out on top as Collins was forced to retire in the third set. The final score of the match was 6-1, 2-6, 4-1.

During the handshake after the match, Collins said something to Swiatek, which shocked the five-time Grand Slam winner. A lot has been said about the incident, but the 30-year-old has finally opened up about it. Collins has been recently quoted in a report in which she talked in detail about the incident. The current world number 11 was of the opinion that the matter became a big deal because it happened in women’s tennis. In her opinion, if the same thing had happened in men’s tennis, it would not have received the spotlight that it did.

"I think what happened on the court is very much just like sometimes people have friction at work. For most people, it's not on the news. I'm trying to be the best person that I can be, but that's not to say that I don't fall short of that. I could have taken a different approach and done some things differently. But we had a moment there on court," she said. “She's not someone that I really get to see a lot at the tennis and she's very guarded with her group. We all make mistakes and fall short. And I'm just trying to put that behind me. I think when guys kind of get into a little tiff or a little bit of friction, I think that it's kind of expected. With women, it becomes this way bigger issue than it really needs to be. There's a lot of extrapolation.”