A massive upset at the 2024 BJK Cup Finals! Slovakia pulled off a stunner by beating Team USA in the opening round by a 2-1 scoreline. Tayor Townsend gave them a good start by clinching victory over Renata Jamrichova in the first singles match. However, surprisingly, Danielle Collins was defeated by Rebecca Sramkova in the next encounter by 6-2,7-5. Collins’ loss was unexpected. She seemed emotional during the second set. What did Davenport say to her during those tense moments?

Yet another defeat in the doubles event which featured Taylor Townsend and Ashlyn Krueger followed Collins’ defeat. So, overall, it wasn’t a memorable outing for the Americans. After the match, Davenport shared was asked if he thinks Team USA felt less pressure playing against Slovakia, given the high expectations for the team. “It could be,” she answered in a post-match press conference. “We didn’t feel tons of pressure. We obviously have high expectations, but I think we knew our top five players weren’t here…A tough night, no doubt.” Then came the words of appreciation for the world No. 11, who suffered a surprising defeat to world No. 43.

Davenport claimed, “Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing is these are wonderful, wonderful ladies, and just trying to get them overall to, you know, be good and be okay. Sometimes players are going through a lot off the court. A lot of times people don’t really realize that we see athletes out there kind of competing, but, you know, real life is pretty heavy sometimes.” She further added, “Danielle was doing her absolute best to compete. Sometimes, like, it just gets the best of you in certain situations, and that happened. I thought she did a really, really great job of kind of getting it back together, and like I said, almost kind of flipping that second set. She’s a warrior.”

Just before the start of the tournament, Lindsay Davenport said that Danielle Collins was the first one who told her in early August that she would never turn down the opportunity to represent her nation. Likewise, Davenport further added that she had always wanted Collins on her team. She even wished she could’ve given ‘Danimal’ one more chance on Sunday because she feels her tennis is so great and she’s also a “wonderful person.”

Further reflecting on her performance she added, “Sometimes you just kind of struggle, you know, in your arena of sport, and that’s just kind of what she’s going through right now.” Danielle Collins’ performances in the 2024 season have been quite extraordinary. She played 54 matches and won 38 out of them. Not only that, she also won two titles, Miami and Charleston Open, this season. Given her strong performance, everyone expected her to defeat Rebecca Sramkova. While the loss is disappointing, there’s still positive news for her fans.

Danielle Collins will play in 2025 as well

The ‘Danimal’ show is guaranteed in 2025! Danielle Collins had earlier announced that she’d take retirement from tennis at the end of 2024 to start a family. So, the Billie Jean King Cup was supposed to be a retirement party for the ‘Danimal’. However, in October, she announced that she has decided to prolong her career a bit more. Her announcement came on the same day she was listed on the entries for the season-opening United Cup in Australia which is scheduled to take place from December 27 to January 5. What did she write in her IG post while making this announcement, though?

Collins wrote, “Dealing with endometriosis and fertility is a massive challenge for many women and something that I am actively traversing, but I am fully confident in the team I am working with. It is just going to take longer than I thought.” She further went on to add, “So, the DANIMAL story has not reached its conclusion. I will be back on tour in 2025.”

All she now hopes is to build on her 2024 momentum and keep playing until there is more certainty around her health. She has assured her fans that she’d bring up more “epic matches” in next year. On that note, how many titles do you think Collins can win in 2025?