MELBOURNE, Australia — Tennis’ newest villain Danielle Collins has been booed and jeered by the Australian Open crowd during her third-round 6-4, 6-4 loss to fellow American Madison Keys on Saturday night.
Collins made headlines in Australia after her second-round match — a tough, three-set win over local hope Destanee Aiava. The American, who was being heckled during the encounter, returned serve at the hostile Australian crowd after winning the match by blowing them kisses, asking them to make more noise, and even smacking her backside in the direction of the crowd.
She then further inflamed tensions when she took the microphone during her post-match press conference.
“You know, 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.
“[My friend 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.”
When Collins and Keys walked onto Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night, a smattering of boos rang out around the stadium, with Collins gesturing for the crowd to bring it on.
Later, when the tournament MC introduced the players on the court, Collins received another round of boos, matched by some enthusiastic cheers, but the heckling went up a notch when the match started, with the No. 10 seed’s first serve — a fault — being met by jeers.
Danielle Collins receives a serenade of boos as she enters Rod Laver Arena. 😠🔊#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/eGcuxwS9Yg
— Eurosport (@eurosport) January 18, 2025
In the same service game, Collins erred with a double fault — it was met with cheers and laughter by the mostly-Australian crowd. By contrast, Keys’ first double fault of the match was met by mostly silence.
A later Collins fault was commented on by a member of the crowd, “Ha, try again!” prompting the chair umpire to warn patrons not to yell out between first and second serves.
The pantomime villain started slowly under the lights; Collins was broken in the first game of the first set, and was never able to claw momentum back, Keys winning the set 6-4.
The start of the second set was a complete contrast to the first; Collins started hitting her ground strokes and broke in the second game, consolidating for a 3-0 lead, but Keys managed to steady, levelling the match by breaking back not long after.
The 10th seed Collins then seemed to struggle with a knee injury. During the sixth game at 3-3, she approached the chair umpire requesting a medical timeout, before she gave up an all-important break, Keys taking a lead she wouldn’t surrender at 4-3.
The crowd, which was heavily in favour of Keys, roared enthusiastically when the 19th seed converted on match point, and again booed and jeered Collins — runner up here in 2022 against Ashleigh Barty — when she left the arena.
Speaking in press after the loss, Collins said she was anticipating a hostile reception from the crowd, adding that she does “enjoy” energetic crowds when she plays.
“I expected that obviously. That’s fine. Like I said, I really do enjoy playing in these types of environments. It’s what you work so hard for your entire life as a kid. I embraced it,” she said.
“Yeah, I thought overall it was good. It got me fired up at times. It got us into the match and got both of us focused.”
Asked if she’ll be able to get back on good terms with the Australian crowds going forward, Collins was circumspect about her week Down Under and the attention she’s received.
“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,” she said.
“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, you know, 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? I’m just trying to have fun.”
