Danielle Collins has finally bowed out of the Australian Open, having lost to fellow American Madison Keys in round three.
Many tennis fans loved Collins’ provocative behaviour after her second round win over Destanee Aiava, where she put her hands to her ears and blew kisses to the crowd.
The crowd largely reacted angrily to the gestures with loud boos, but Jessica Pegula thinks Collins is great for tennis after seeing what she did on the court.
WTA number 11 Collins sparked further debate at the Australian Open with her post-match comments, where she claimed the people who hate her pay her bills.
But the 10th seed has now fallen to 19th seed Keys in the third round in Melbourne, which will, of course, please many Australian fans.
Danielle Collins says burden falls on Australian Open fans to repair relationship
Such fans have come constantly under the spotlight in week one of the Grand Slam, with fellow professional Daniil Medvedev booed by the Australian Open crowd in his round one match.
It was suggested in her latest post-match press conference that the Russian has seemingly never shaken off his poor relationship with certain fans, with Collins asked if her ‘doomed’ relationship with Australian Open supporters can be repaired in the future.
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“I mean, yeah, I guess that’s up to them, right?” she said. “At the end of the day whatever happens, happens. The biggest thing is that nobody got hurt.
“Maybe some feelings got hurt or things were taken personally, and they probably shouldn’t have been taken personally by the crowd.
“But, yeah, I feel like people take life way too seriously sometimes. I think in our sport, it’s like somebody was telling me that the average age of people watching and the fans of tennis is, like, 65.
“I think we need to kind of bring some entertainment to the game. I think we can try to make jokes and laugh.
“I don’t have a big ego when it comes to this. Honestly, I don’t care what’s written about me. I don’t care, like, what some guy living in his basement is writing on the internet. You know what I mean?”
Danielle Colins ‘just trying to have fun’ after Australian Open crowd altercation
Collins understandably played the role of the villain in round two given that she was competing against Australian Aiava.
Crowds at the tournament have been treated to plenty of special performances from home favourites, who they unsurprisingly want to go as far as possible.
Collins is one of many players who have come under fire from the boisterous fans, but she more than dealt with the pressure on the court.
Her actions and comments have, however, seemingly divided opinion, although she remains completely unfazed by the entire situation.
“I’m just trying to have fun,” Collins added. “I’m just trying to enjoy my life and have fun with it. All my friends on tour thought I was… they knew I was just being me and trying to make humour of the situation.
“Then I had a lot of my friends be, like, well, am I getting invited on the yacht? Yeah, a lot of the girls on tour were, like, well, you’re inviting me, right?
“That’s all that matters. At the end of the day you can’t please everybody. The most important thing is your friends and family and what they think.
“Yeah, nobody got hurt. That’s the main thing. This is sports. I don’t think the banter is necessarily a terrible thing. I mean, I don’t know.”
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