Ever since sparking her retirement plans, Danielle Collins has been in much news. Early last season, the American star announced that the 2024 season would be her career’s final one. While she had an exceptional year on the court, Collins made a U-turn on her retirement decision and continued playing. Additionally, she caused more drama at the start of the season during her match against Iga Swiatek at the United Cup. Days after that fiery encounter, Collins channeled never-seen-before aggression at the Australian Open.

Collins made the headlines for all the wrong reasons after her frosty handshake with Iga Swiatek at the United Cup. The Pole was coming from a one-month ban from doping late last season and many fans thought that Collins’ weird reaction during a handshake with Swiatek was in response to the Pole’s doping scandal. As a result, many fans questioned Collins’ frosty handshake with Swiatek and it became a subject of controversy.

The 31-year-old’s actions further seemed to trigger the fans when she zoomed in on her face at the exact moment of the handshake and made it her Instagram icon. Oh, well.

However, it looks like Collins has left that drama far behind. Earlier today, she began her campaign against Daria Snigur at the Australian Open. The first set was keenly fought, and it went right to the tiebreaker. Subsequently, Collins upped the ante and showed off her prowess by winning the tie-breaker comfortably 7-6(4) 6-3. The moment that followed showed how much the win mattered to Collins as she screamed ‘Let’s go’ while erupting in jubilation. Collins carried the momentum in the second set and won it 6-3 to enter the second round.

Soon after her handshake became a matter of controversy, Collins gave a fitting response to her critics and said, “So much gets taken out of context, and fans think they know players personally, they think they know the ins and outs of what takes place on a daily basis, but the reality is they really don’t. I’m just trying to make fun of myself now.” 

Additionally, Collins also defended Swiatek after her doping controversy took the tennis world by storm. The American star had an honest take on players taking supplements.

Danielle Collins gives her take on doping

Before Swiatek’s doping case, Sinner was also engulfed in the same controversy after it was revealed that he failed a couple of doping tests. However, in both cases, the level of the banned substance in their bodies was found to be extremely low. Thus, they escaped a major punishment but faced the wrath of some in the tennis community.

On the other hand, Collins came to their rescue, saying, “I empathize with the people that have struggled with supplements and contamination. I’m sure that’s a real thing but honestly, that hasn’t been a big concern to me cuz I feel like I have a lot of trust in my daily vitamins and the stuff that I am using. I feel like all the third-party testing they’re doing now and making sure that all of those factories where they are producing these products they’re pretty stringent on what can be made in those facilities and so it hasn’t been something that I’ve been fearful of.”

Meanwhile, Collins is eyeing her maiden Grand Slam title, having finished second-best here in 2022. Thus, she would look to better that performance and reach the business end of the tournament. Collins next faces Destanee Aiava for a place in the third round.