With retirement looming, Danielle Collins is gearing up for one final lap! When she went professional in 2016, her path had begun following a four-year academic career. Naturally, the transition wasn’t without difficulties. In her first year on the tour, the 30-year-old American tennis player faced a battle within herself.

After winning the Miami Open, the American tennis player reached the quarterfinal round of the Italian Open. Following her amazing Rome run, the 15th-ranked tennis player sat down with Andy Roddick to talk about her tennis career, which is about to end this year.

In that conversation, she opened up about how she gave herself a challenge when she entered the tennis arena in the beginning. Collins stated, “My first year that I was traveling on tour, I said to myself, “If I’m not in top-150 after a year, I need to really re-consider this”. I was about 150, and And if I’m not top 100 in the next six months, Yeah, I am going to law school.”

While Danimal was quite clear that if she was not able to get into the top 150 initially, she would leave out tennis and continue her law school path. Apparently, not only did she get into the top 100, but after making it to the Miami Open semifinals in 2018, her breakthrough came when she advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2019 and shot up to the WTA’s Top 25.

In addition, she won championships in Palermo and San Jose in 2021, demonstrating her increasing skill on the court. Collins’ incredible feat of making it to the Australian Open final the following year saw her soar to a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 7 in July 2022.

The American was going to study law when she decided to enter the tennis scene, but now she’s nearing the end of her career as a professional player. As she prepares for retirement, she also has a post-retirement plan in mind, which she intends to execute with her boyfriend.

Danielle Collins talks about her life after retirement

Collins announced in January 2024 that she would terminate her career as a professional tennis player at the end of the current season. At that time, she stated, “I’m going to be 31 at the end of the year, and that’s around the time when people make that milestone! It’s like, give me a break! Let me retire and have a family in peace!”

On the other hand, the Miami Open champion, who advanced to the semifinals of the Charleston Open, recently talked about her boyfriend’s engagement in tennis. She mentioned, “I’m hoping that we’ll play like maybe the husband-wife doubles like the USTA, you play for the gold ball. I explained to him that this is a big deal in the tennis world.” It will be interesting to see what comes next for the American tennis player.

What do you think, though, about Collins’ future plans with her boyfriend? Please let us know by leaving a comment below.