Danielle Collins has long been one of women’s tennis’ most fiery competitors. But after her tight second-round Australian Open win over Australian underdog Destanee Aiava, Collins showed she can bring it with the crowd, too.
The 11th-seeded American brought a hand to her ear to encourage the boos, blew kisses to the crowd, yelled “how ’bout that!” and slapped her own backside after outlasting Aiava, the last Australian woman in the draw, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2.
And that was only the beginning of things.
Afterward, Collins had her normal post-match interview, and while things started off calmly enough, the boos started raining down again — as they had much of the match as well — and Collins was up for it again.
“I was thinking during the match, I was like, ‘Hmm, if I’m out here, I might as well take that big fat paycheck,'” Collins said. “Coco [Vandeweghe] and I love … we love a good five-star vacation, so part of that check is going to go towards that, so thank you guys, thank you for coming out and supporting us tonight.”
She later repeated that sentiment — “Thanks for the paycheck, Australia.” — in a post-match interview with ESPN and poked more fun at provoking the crowd in her press conference.
Last year, Collins — who made the Australian Open final in 2022 — announced she would retire at the end of the 2024 season, but she reneged on that decision and is now into the third round, where she’ll face fellow American Madison Keys.
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