Danielle Collins Lays Bare the Turning Point of Her Career and Iga Swiatek’s Vital Role in the Turnaround

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself! Danielle Collins currently wants to go out by playing her best brand of tennis. After her second-round defeat to Iga Swiatek at the 2024 AO, she announced that this season was going to be her last as a professional tennis player. Taking a retirement call at the age of 30 is really a bold decision. But then again, she has some obvious reasons behind that. Since that announcement, Collins has looked like a completely different player. She has already won 2 titles this season. How many can she win in her last season? Time will tell! But what is that exact moment which gave her the push to achieve the unthinkable?

During a recent conversation at the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast. Collins stated her peak started right at the beginning of this year. “I really think when a lot of times when you make improvements here and there and then you start to piece up altogether. It makes all the difference in the world. And I think that’s kind of what happened.” She further went on to add, “I lost a few close matches at the end of last and the beginning of this year against Iga in Australia.”

Danielle Collins lost that match to the world number tennis player by a 4-6,6-3,4-6 margin. However, her numbers weren’t too bad as compared to Iga Swiatek in that match. She fought till the end, but still couldn’t get the result in her favor. Collins added, “Matches coming down by a few points, few games, few shots that I’ve missed by this much. Few shots that my opponents have missed by this much. So you know I just kinda feel like that at this point I’m working so hard to improve little areas of my game by 2% or 5%.”

Collins spoke about how she has finally realized that she has been able to figure out the weaknesses in her games in the later stages of her career. All she wants now is to improve the tactical side of her play little by little and grab a few more titles before hanging her racket at the end of this season. She wants to end her career with a bright smile. But still, there are some people who are yet to digest her retirement decision.

“Let me retire and have a family in peace!” – Danielle Collins

Danielle Collins currently has a win-loss record of 31-8 this season. And, she is knocking on the doors of Rome to clinch her third title of this season. Her incredible performance this season has made things more difficult for her fans to accept her retirement. While speaking on this during an interview with Tennis TV, Collins said, “I think society and even the people who follow my life closely have had a difficult time accepting the fact that I’m retiring. And it’s really bizarre!”

She further went on to add, “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!” It will be interesting to see how far she goes this time at the Italian Open. Will she get the chance to face Iga Swiatek yet again this year? Probably both of them would have to reach the finals then.