Danielle Collins says what she found ‘weird’ about playing at the Olympics after ‘wild’ change at Roland Garros

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Danielle Collins commented on how it felt playing in the Olympic Games that hosted the tennis at Roland Garros.

Paris did not need to build a new facility for the tennis event at the 2024 Games, as they used the same venue that hosts the French Open.

This is actually what London chose to do at the 2012 Games, when Wimbledon was used to host the tennis competition.

The Paris Olympics marked just the second time in Olympics tennis history that the tennis competition was played on clay.

What did Danielle Collins say about competing at the Paris Olympics?

Danielle Collins competed at her first and what will be her only Olympic Games when she graced the courts in Paris.

She was part of an American tennis Olympic team that included co-USA flag bearer Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro and Desirae Krawczyk.

Roland Garros were able to completely transform the venue to reflect the Olympic Games taking place. It was strange to see the home of the clay court Grand Slam look so different, but Collins enjoyed her Olympics experience.

“It was weird competing there during the Olympics. We know and have played there before but if you looked around and you had never been to the tennis, you would never have known that Roland Garros was there,” Collins told the ‘Advantage Connors’ podcast.

“That’s the crazy part. They did an incredible job clearing everything out and having the branded images and backdrops on the court that were for the Olympics.

“It was kind of wild playing in a totally different event and one of the biggest events in sports history. I loved playing on the clay.”

How did Danielle Collins do at the Paris Olympic Games?

In her one and only appearance at the Olympics, Collins played in the singles and women’s doubles alongside Krawczyk.

The World number 13 began her singles campaign by defeating Laura Siegemund, before securing three-set wins over Caroline Wozniacki and Camila Osorio.

Collins then had the tough task of trying to beat World number one Iga Swiatek on clay in the quarter-finals.

But while trailing 1-6, 6-2, 1-4, Collins retired from the Swiatek contest due to injury, which brought her Olympics campaign to an end. Collins did not play again until her shock defeat to Erika Andreeva at the Monterrey Open on Wednesday.