“Thank you, guys, love ya!” – said Danielle Collins, aka, Danimal, delivering a line that is destined to echo for years among the fiery Aussie crowd. The American faced an expected wave of boos from passionate Aussie fans after defeating local favorite Destanee Aiava in a heated Australian Open second-round clash yesterday at Kia Arena. Yet Collins not only dealt with the animosity; she embraced it with flair. Her bold response, blowing kisses to fans after the match even caught the attention of fellow tennis star Emma Raducanu, who, having faced her share of intense moments on the court on previous occasions, couldn’t help but hit the follow button on Instagram. 

Fresh from the United Cup win with Team USA, Collins’ AO campaign started on a high. She beat the Ukrainian Daria Snigur in the first-round match and signed up for the second-round clash with Destanee Aiava. However, as the match against Aiava started, it seemed like Collins was playing two opponents, Aiava and the local crowd. And the fairy crowd somehow helped Aiava!

After clinching the first set 7-6(7-4), the American lost the second one 6-4, as the match went into a third set decider. And boy oh boy! The crowd became hostile as the match went on and the American got all the boos whenever she lost a point. But, Collins got the last laugh and won the third set 6-2. And, she responded by blowing kisses to the displeased Aussie crowd. She even added her remarks in the post-match interview.

“You know, I was thinking during the match, hmm, if I’m out here, I may as well take that big fat paycheck. CoCo and I, we, love a good five-star vacation, so part of that paycheck is going towards that. So, thank you, guys! Thank you, guys, love ya,” Collins added. And just after the match, one of the tennis aces Emma Raducanu secretly followed the American on Instagram as one of her fan pages posted “Emma has followed Danielle ‘Danimal’ Collins 😀”. But why did Emma support Danimal, though?

Remember last year’s Billie Jean King Cup in April? Well, the British Raducanu played in that tournament in France when she faced a similar hostile situation. The 21-year-old won both her matches against the French internationals Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry. Parry troubled her a little bit, as the British blew away two match points before holding her nerves and winning the match 4-6, 6-1, and 7-6 (1). However, after the match, Raducanu shared her remarks about the atmosphere in the crowd.

“It was pretty incredible inside that stadium. Like, the sound, because it’s such an enclosed space, everything feels so much louder,” she added. That’s not it! She also talked about her mental toughness while dealing with the situation. “It has been one of my strengths. It obviously takes a lot out of you to do that physically and emotionally. But I’m very pleased that I was able to do that this weekend,” she added at the post-match interview. 

Coming back to Collins, the American is now heading towards her third-round match against one of her fellow American Madison Keys in what promises to be a cracking encounter at Rod Laver Arena. However, before that match, Collins also gave her an overview of her fund. Fund? Yes!

‘It’s all going towards the Danielle Collins fund’, Danielle Collins slams the super drunk fans post-match

It was a day to be remembered at Melbourne Park! Especially when Collins and Aiava went head-to-head. As the Aussie was on court, it was obvious that the home crowd would go behind Aiava, a local whose mother played for the Australian Rugby Union. And the fans went wild when Aiava took the second set. At one stage in the match, Collins had to shout ‘Shut up’ looking at a spectator, after she encountered a double fault.

However, Danimal, who made it to the final of AO in 2022, beating Iga Swiatek in SF but beaten by former No. 1 Ashleigh Barty came back in third and booked her path for 3rd round. And after her post-match interview, she posted her remarks, remembering the heckling she faced during the match.

“One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is that 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. And, you know, obviously my professional career is not going to last forever, and so, I just remind myself every day, like, when I have that kind of stuff, ‘they’re paying my bills. I think there were a lot of people that were super drunk and had a hard time controlling themselves and were really excited,” Collins said in her post-match interview. And, she didn’t stop there!

“Every person that’s bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or, you know, do what they do, like it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins fund,” she added before talking about her ‘perceived’ villain character. 

“All I have to say is good luck pissing somebody off or getting under the skin of somebody that literally doesn’t give a (f***)… can I say it? (laughs),” she remarked.

As the third round matches have already begun, her match against Keys is now the most anticipated one as the Aussie will turn up again tomorrow! Can Collins beat her fellow American in the mouth-watering contest? Share your thoughts in the comments below.