After announcing she would be retiring at the end of the 2024 tennis season, Danielle Collins has ended up having the most successful year of her career.
A first round US Open exit for Danielle Collins wasn’t in the script, as the final Grand Slam of her career ended before it had barely begun.
Playing just her second match on the hard-courts after an abdominal injury frustrated Collins’ early season momentum, she failed to capitalise from a set and break advantage on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Having last lost in the round of 16 in Guadalajara, Collins is facing a slightly underwhelming last few months on the WTA Tour.
As the season starts to close out for 2024, Collins has recently announced the last event she will take part in.
Danielle Collins announced as part of USA’s Billie Jean King Cup squad with Jessica Pegula
The USA came through the qualifying rounds, beating Belgium 3-0 with two Jessica Pegula wins and a third from Emma Navarro seeing them progress to the final 12 teams set to play in Malaga.
With Coco Gauff and Navarro sitting out of the finals, Danielle Collins joins up with the team as their second-string singles player.
Peyton Stearns, Taylor Townsend and Caroline Dolehide, who Collins was defeated by at the US Open, complete the line-up.
Team USA are set to play Slovakia in the first round for a chance to play Australia in the quarter-finals.
Danielle Collins is leaving American tennis in a better place
With two of the four US Open semi-finalists American women, Pegula and Navarro have upped the tempo over the last few months where Gauff and Collins have faded.
Gauff was beaten by compatriot Navarro for the second consecutive Grand Slam, with the 23-year-old now moving up to a career-high of eighth.
Pegula matches her best WTA ranking by shooting up to third after her maiden major final appearance in New York saw her succumb to the blistering power of Aryna Sabalenka.
Collins however still remains in the top 10 despite her recent shaky form and injury-hampered summer.
American tennis on both sides remains at an all-time high, with five American men also in the ATP top 20.
With Collins’ retirement imminent, her feisty and ruthless approach has allowed the younger contingent to thrive and learn off one of the WTA’s strongest.
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