‘Literally Couldn’t Walk’- Danielle Collins Opens Up on Her Boyfriend’s Support Amidst Physical Distress at Miami Open

Winning her maiden Masters 1000 title at the 2024 Miami Open in farewell season was not easy for Danielle Collins. Weeks before the tournament didn’t look as promising as it did when she blazed through winning 12 consecutive sets to ultimately seeing off Elena Rybakina in a two-hour match. For Collins, who is the lowest-ranked woman ever to win the tournament, although finishing her first match in Miami was an uphill battle, looking back at the journey now, she has her fitness-loving boyfriend, Bryan Kipp, to thank for.

After her victory, she recently recalled how her boyfriend helped her get through a difficult moment at Indian Wells last month. During the press conference, Collins opened up about how she was dealing with a lot of uncertainty before the first match of the tournament. She admitted, “Two weeks ago looked a little different. I was coming off a back injury that happened in Austin.

“I was devastated not to be able to finish out that tournament because that’s also a really important event for me. It’s one of my home tournaments and one of my favorite events of the year. Then I went to Indian Wells and had multiple days off in a row. I had a few days, not exaggerating, I literally couldn’t walk.

The 30-year-old American tennis star also went on to explain her tough time dealing with that injury hoping to get back to the court while having her boyfriend provide every support to make things better for her. “I was having to have my boyfriend help me a lot. It was awful. There were a lot of tears about, oh, my gosh, I have played all these tournaments, I have worked so hard for this, and now we’re at Indian Wells and Miami and this is happening, like, why?”

After marking this startling confession, Danielle also revealed how she could get back on her feet. She said, “Luckily with I think the help of the physical therapy and chiropractor, we were able to kind of get it under control and make some adjustments too with some of my training and recovery and got it to a place where it was more manageable… After Indian Wells, I was able to get a couple good days of practice. I felt pretty confident, but the amount of time that I was practicing on court and the type of drills that we were doing was not enough. I was, like, this is going to be hard going into Miami.”

Read More: ‘Having My Son Here Means a Lot’ – Danielle Collins Opens Up on the Unsung Hero of Her Miami Open Campaign

On the other hand, the former 7th-ranked tennis player also pointed out the lesson that she got from the tournament, after facing a lot of ups and downs and winning the title.

“It’s never going to be 100%” – Collins’ shared her learnings from the Miami Open 

In the same press conference, Danielle Collins explained that even after surpassing her own expectations of making it through the matches one by one, the tournament in return gave her a lot. She said, “I think so much of what we do we’re like perfectionists out there. We want perfect preparation, we want the perfect warm-up, we want the perfect practice, we want to feel perfect all the time. I think what makes some of these players the best in the world is that they learn how to play around those things.

“That’s the thing that I have learned the most this tournament is, okay, it’s never going to be 100% and you’ve got to figure out a way to, even though you have those challenges, work through it and get through it.”

While she clearly said that there will always be challenges on every path, at the same time, it’s okay to have some. Subsequently, Collins is determined to retire from tennis later this year, even after her thrilling victory at the Miami Open. Despite her recent success, which has moved her up the WTA rankings, her retirement plans will not be changed. She is suffering from endometriosis and rheumatoid arthritis, so it is getting challenging for her to continue in professional tennis.

READ MORE: What Is Danielle Collins’ Retirement Plan? Her Indian Wells Confession Could Turn Out Great For American Tennis