Imagine being at the top of your game, ready to conquer a tournament, only to face an unexpected defeat. It stings, right? Now, picture that disappointment being compounded by a less-than-glamorous return home, quite literally. This was the reality for American tennis star Danielle Collins, who faced a double dose of surprises on Wednesday.

No. 1 Seed Collins faced a shocking defeat to youngster Erika Andreeva in her opening match at the Monterrey Open. Erika, who is the older sister of rising star Mirra Andreeva, played relentless tennis and left the American sensation baffled in a three-setter match that concluded with a scoreline of 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. While the defeat was already surprising for Collins, what followed on her flight to New York was even more shocking. 

Taking to her Instagram story, Collins shared a picture of her inflight experience as she took a sarcastic dig at Delta Air Lines. Captioning a picture from the flight, she wrote, “Full flight and forced to sit in someone else’s throw-up from the previous flight for the next 3 hours. Seems logical that you wouldn’t have any cleaning on board 🤣Thank you @delta.” Interestingly, Collins chose to resort to a sarcastic side of hers rather than the aggressive one as was witnessed in her dramatic match against Andreeva. 

Danimal was seen engaging in a verbal tussle with the crowd at the Monterrey Open. Hearing something in the stands during the third set, she raised her arms into the air and asked a section of the crowd: “What in the world? I don’t get it. It’s not that hard to let us play tennis and, like, be supportive.” This, however, is not the first time when she engaged in such a tussle with the fans. 

Collins engaged in a heated argument with fans and the cameraperson during her Italian Open match against Victoria Azarenka. When Collins had advanced to a 5-3 in the second set, a spectator seemed puzzled about her missing her first serve. As Azarenka was leading by 40-15 in the game and was on the verge of breaking Collins, she hit back at the spectator: “What? What?” But as the star player nears retirement, it feels like she wishes to try everything in her final season.

Is Danielle Collins straining herself with added tournaments?

While Collins’ stint in Mexico was short-lived, the tennis star is likely trying everything she can in the last season of her career. Collins will now soon join her colleagues at the US Open in New York, to play the final grand slam of her career. But, is the star player taking heavy toll on her physical abilities?

Collins has played numerous tournaments this year. While this can cause eventual fatigue and keep her away from giving her best, she is not looking to stop. The 30-year-old had expressed her desire to try out most of the things that she couldn’t so far in her career. Speaking after her win at Miami this year, Collins said, “I’m going to enjoy every minute of this. This is my last year, this is my last season, and these are some of my final events. I want to remember these moments.”

As she now gears up for the US Open, only time will tell if her desire will put pressure on her body in the mega event. But what remains certain is the aggressive attitude that the American player has demonstrated throughout the year.