Danielle Collins’ Olympic exit has turned into a major setback. In her singles QFs match, intensity levels saw a surge as Danielle Collins unexpectedly found herself on the ground. During her heated battle against Iga Swiatek, the American experienced a heat stroke and therefore had to announce withdrawal from the event. In the course of healing herself, she couldn’t even make it to any competition since then. While everyone was concerned about her presence in the last season of her career, she recently came forward with a positive update.

The American, who was forced to retire from her singles quarterfinal and subsequently lost her doubles match, has revealed a recurring abdominal injury that sidelined her for four months in the past. She shared a picture of the fierce image of herself on Instagram, with the logo of the Paris Olympics behind her. “After having a heat stroke in Paris, I strained my rectus abdominis. I had a similar injury to this area almost four years ago that kept me from competing for over four months. Obviously I don’t want to have a repeat of that,” her caption read.

This latest setback has forced her to withdraw from both the Toronto and Cincinnati tournaments, putting her US Open participation in serious doubt. The injury comes at a crucial time as Collins is playing her final season on the professional tennis circuit. American tennis player faces a race against time to be fit for the US Open, her final Grand Slam tournament before retirement.

Despite the setback, Collins remains hopeful of competing at a WTA 500 tournament in Mexico next week before the US Open. She has also confirmed her intention to play beyond the US Open and chase the goals she set for her final season. The 30-year-old announced her retirement earlier this year, citing chronic health conditions and a desire to start a family. Her farewell season has been a success so far, with a career-best title win at the Miami Open.

During the period of Collins’ absence, members of the tennis community kept wishing for her quick return. Along with that, former pros also came forward to predict great fortunes for the 30-year-old. “She’s playing unbelievable this year, she won Miami. She’s proven to herself that she can win these big events. So, why not win the US Open? What if she wins the US Open? Is it over? So what? Could this be a good way to go?” Sam Querrey said, extending her name forward as the new US Open champion.

As the last grand slam event of the season approaches, players have different names to put forward in the list of contenders. Amid the ignited discussions, it wasn’t just Querrey who came forward to highlight the Danimal’s potential.

Compatriot Emma Navarro appreciates Collins’ unapologetic behavior

Collins is generally seen with a big wide smile on her face. The WTA pro always tries to keep her calm, in order to hold herself down during pressure situations. However, she also never backs down from giving rivals a taste of their own medicine when things cross boundaries. During the showdown against Swiatek at the Paris Olympics, fans saw a similar side of the 30-year-old.

As the Olympic tussles have ended, WTA star Navarro came forward to reveal her admiration for Collins. “We have very different on-court personalities, for sure, but I think she’s taught me a little bit about how to just be yourself, and not everyone’s going to like how you go about things, but don’t let that get to you. She’s, yeah, very outgoing and expressive on the court, and she’s unapologetically herself, which I think is really cool,” she said.

As Collins currently focuses on getting better and quickly finding her way back to the scenes, it still remains to be seen if she will be able to come prepared.