Danielle Collins couldn’t resist firing back at the “rowdy” Melbourne crowd after her victory over local hopeful Destanee Aiava at the Australian Open.
Despite being heckled and booed during her 7-6 4-6 6-2 triumph in the Kia Arena, the world No.11, who was close to retiring last year, responded to the crowd by cupping her ear, blowing kisses, and patting her backside post-match.
In her post-match press conference, Collins didn’t hold back, echoing Jack Draper’s sentiments about the Aussie crowd’s jeers giving him “energy” during his five-set comeback against Thanasi Kokkinakis in the John Cain Arena. The American tennis ace quipped: “One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is the people that don’t like you and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills. it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund. Bring it on. I love it.”
She added: “Good luck trying to get under the skin of somebody that really doesn’t care. I loved it. I’ve been doing this my whole life. I love playing in a crowd that has energy, regardless of what side they’re on.”
Collins declared that the charged atmosphere motivates her even more, continuing: “I’m somebody, too, it kind of just motivates me even more. So it’s kind of a good thing, especially when I’m not playing that well. So I think it really helped me in the end. Just helped me concentrate more and challenged me at times. Pushed me kind of through the finish line.
“I was really happy to, in the end when I finally got momentum, I’m like, Well, if I’m going to be out here for two-and-a-half hours, putting up with all these people, I might as well just take the bigger paycheck, right? I was super happy to do that.
“One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is the people that don’t like you and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills. It’s kind of a cool concept.
“Obviously my professional career is not going to last forever. So I just remind myself every day when I have that kind of stuff, they’re paying my bills. Every person that’s bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund.
“Yeah, bring it on. I love it.”
Collins has already banked just shy of £150k for reaching the third round – and would earn £1.8m for winning the first Grand Slam of the year.
“Me and my group of girlfriends love a five-star vacation,” Collins added. “I can guarantee you that check is going to go towards our next five-star trip, hopefully to The Bahamas. We like big boats, we like big boats, we like yachts.
“We’ll post about it, let you guys know how it goes.”
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