While Danielle Collins has entered the far end of her tennis career, all eyes are on her this season to have one last laugh before she retires. The American star is currently playing at the Wimbledon Championships where she has reached the third round. Yesterday, she had a convincing win over Clara Tauson in straight sets, following which Collins reflected on an important member of her team, Ryan Harrison.

Interestingly, when Collins took to tennis at a very young age, it was Ryan’s father, Pat, who began coaching her. Collins joined the IMG Academy as a teenager and Pat used to coach his son and Collins together sometimes. Eventually, a friendship between the two, even leading her tp add him to her coaching department, and yesterday, Collins shared an enriching experience about their relationship.

During an interview after her first-round win over Tauson, Collins revealed, “I don’t think I could practice against anyone better than Ryan. We have a lot of fun out there playing games against each other and giving him a run for his money sometimes. Remember when you said, when I was up in that tie break and you said, if I beat you, you will shave your eyebrows.”

However, it wasn’t meant to be as Collins went on to lose the bet. Harrison went on to make a comeback after being down 9-0 in the tiebreak to win the match, as Collins revealed. Harrison managed the thrilling comeback after hitting a bunch of aces and winners, which the WTA World No. 11 somehow allowed!

Before his son took over, Pat Harrison was Collins’ childhood coach. He has seen the American player develop from a girl to a star, and has nothing but good opinions on her play.

Ex-coach Pat credits Danielle Collins’ mentality

Pat Harrison has been working with Danielle Collins in her childhood days and had a big role to play in her becoming one of America’s best players today. The highs of their partnership were seen at the 2022 Australian Open where she reached the summit clash. Despite not winning any major trophies, Pat Harrison is proud of Collins’ attitude and mentality.

During an interview, he praised her, saying, “Danielle just always had that mentality that she was going to go in and she was going to be one of the best in the nation in college and then take that route — her route — into the pros, and she knew it would work out.”

Although Collins faced tremendous competition from within her country, she overcame all odds to be where she is today. Further, Harrison went on to add, “There are a handful of people in the world who could have handled facing an Australian player in that environment, but I knew she could and wouldn’t get mentally broken. She would just keep fighting.”

Moments ago, she had a comfortable victory over Dalma Galfi in the second round at Wimbledon. Up next, Collins will face Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil. Can Collins have one last laugh before she retires? Let us know your views in the comments below.