MELBOURNE, Australia — When world No. 10 American Danielle Collins retires from playing tennis, she might just have a future in professional wrestling after she played up a hostile crowd during her second-round win at the Australian Open.
Facing Australia’s last hope in the women’s draw, Destanee Aiava, in the last match on what has become a bit of a party court in Kia Arena, hot favorite Collins was being taunted every time she made a mistake and jeered when she hit a double fault, as the Aussie nearly pulled off a major upset.
But after posting the 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2 win to secure her place in the third round, Collins decided to have a little fun with the crowd, blowing them kisses, asking them to make more noise, and even smacking her backside in the direction of the crowd.
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Danielle Collins taunts crowd with WWE-style antics
American Danielle Collins responds to the Aussie Open crowd’s boos by cupping her ear and slapping her backside following a win over Australian Destanee Aiava.
Then Collins faced the on-court interview. While it started off normally, she began being showered with boos, so she grabbed the microphone — WWE-style — from the interviewer, and taunted the Australian fans some more.
“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.”
In a postmatch interview to ESPN, Collins doubled down, saying it’s a “pretty amazing” feeling to be able to win in the face of a belligerent crowd.
“I’m definitely someone who needs to have a bit of a fire under my ass, and I feel like all of this just motivates me to do better,” she said.
“It’s a pretty amazing feeling as an athlete, because the people who dislike you or hate you pay your bills, so that’s a really rewarding feeling. “Thanks for the paycheck, Australia.”
She later reposted the video of her celebrations to her Instagram account, with Taylor Swift’s song “Look What You Made Me Do” playing over the top of it.
A little more circumspect in her news conference after the match, Collins said she likes to embrace the ups and downs of the tennis circuit, admitting that she knew she would be up against the crowd trying to get the local hope over the line.
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Danielle Collins thanks Aussie Open crowd for paying her bills
Danielle Collins says “bring it on” after the Australian Open crowd booed her following her win over Destanee Aiava.
“I mean, look, Destanee is from here. I think they really wanted for her to win badly. I think there were a lot of people that were super drunk and had a hard time controlling themselves and were really excited,” she said.
“Obviously my professional career is not going to last forever. So I just remind myself every day when I have that kind of stuff, they’re paying my bills.
“Every person that’s bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund. Yeah, bring it on. I love it.”
With her second-round win, Collins is guaranteed a paycheck of $180,000 (AU$290,000) even if she loses her next match against fellow American Madison Keys. The 31-year-old said she knows exactly what she’ll be spending the money on.
“Me and my group of girlfriends love a five-star vacation. I can guarantee you that check is going to go towards our next five-star trip, hopefully to the Bahamas,” she joked. “We like big boats, we like big boats, we like yachts. We’ll post about it, let you guys know how it goes.”
Does Collins mind playing the villain?
“All I have to say is good luck pissing someone off, getting under the skin of somebody that doesn’t give a … can I say it?” she laughed.
