After antagonizing the Australian Open crowd during and after her second-round match, Danielle Collins received a cold welcome from the fans as she took the court for her third-round matchup with Madison Keys. Many fans in attendance booed as Collins walked out, and the jeering continued throughout the match.
On Thursday, Collins defeated Australian Destanee Aiava, much to the chagrin of the crowd. Listening to crowd reactions, there was no question the fans were hoping to see the Aussie advance, and Collins leaned into the villain role.
Collins brought her hand to her ear in hopes of encouraging more boos, blew kisses to the crowd and had some verbal back-and-forth. Ahead of Collins’ third-round match, fans gave it right back, showering her with loud boos upon her introduction.
Every mistake Collins made in her 6-4, 6-4 loss to Keys, a fellow American, was greeted with cheers. As Collins made her way off the court after getting bounced from the tournament, more boos rained down.
In her post-match press conference, Collins said she would be open to one day reconciling with the Australian crowd as long as they would be willing to do so. Collins said she was just having some fun and trying to bring “entertainment” to the sport.
“I guess that’s up to them,” Collins said. “… The biggest thing is that nobody got hurt. Maybe some feelings got hurt because things were taken personally when they shouldn’t have been taken personally by the crowd. I feel like people take life way too seriously sometimes.”
Collins added that she has ignored the criticism that’s been thrown her way over the last couple of days.
“Honestly, I don’t care what’s written about me,” Collins said. “I don’t care what some guy living in his basement is writing on the internet. Like, I’m just trying to have fun and enjoy my life.”
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