Danielle Collins was booed off the court after being knocked out of the Australian Open following her defeat to fellow American Madison Keys on Saturday.
Collins, 31, became a pantomime villain at Melbourne Park after sarcastically hitting back at her hecklers, having defeated home favourite Destanee Aiava in the second round on Thursday before bragging about earning a ‘big fat cheque’.
She also blew kisses at the crowd, cupped her ear and even slapped her backside.
One critic took exception to her behaviour, scathingly labelling her a ‘brat’, and there was no love lost when she returned to the court for her third round tie.
Collins, the 10th seed in the women’s singles, smiled after being given a mixed reception when she walked out on centre court at Rod Laver Arena.
But cheers soon went up when she made her first double fault and despite showing glimpses of a fightback in the second set, Collins was downed 6-4 6-4.
Danielle Collins crashed out of the Australian Open after losing to Madison Keys
Collins flashed a gesture toward the crowd after being heckled as she left the court
Keys won in straight sets two days on from Collins’ dramatic victory over Destanee Aiava
At the end of the first set, the chair umpire told the crowd to respect both players.
Collins endured a miserable display and also required a medical timeout at 4-3 down in the second set, with heavy strapping then applied to her left leg.
After crashing out, she hobbled off the court to more audible jeers and made a gesture to fans as she headed for the exit.
Speaking in her post-match press conference, Collins admitted she ‘expected’ to be booed by the crowd, but claimed it was a ‘blessing’ having received six sponsorship offers during the Grand Slam.
‘Like I said, I really do enjoy playing in these types of environments,’ Collins said. ‘It’s what you work so hard for your entire life as a kid. I embraced it.
Obviously, I’m towards the end of my career, it’s wonderful that I can capitalise on these opportunities.
‘I think that six different sponsorship opportunities come up this tournament alone, that’s a great signal for me. Obviously, like I said, every fan contributes to that. It’s been a real blessing.’
Collins was asked whether she could one day win back the Australian public, with the American claiming it was ‘up to them’ and suggested the crowd may have taken things too seriously.
‘Someone was telling me the average age of people watching tennis is 65,’ said Collins, who laughed off being labelled a ‘brat’.
I think we need to bring some entertainment to the game and make jokes and laugh, I don’t have a big ego when it comes to this, I don’t care what is written about me.
‘I don’t care what some guy living in his basement is writing on the internet. You know what I mean?
‘I’m just trying to have fun. I’m just try to enjoy my life and have fun with it.’
A beaten finalist to Ash Barty in Melbourne in 2022, Collins had yelled at the crowd to ‘shut up’ after a fault during her pulsating victory over Aiava.
Later, however, she said she used the ‘hostile atmosphere’ as motivation.
‘One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is that the people that don’t like you and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills,’ Collins said.
‘My professional career is not going to last forever so I just remind myself every day when I have that kind of stuff [negative crowd reactions] they’re paying my bills.
‘Every person that has bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins fund.
Collins had sarcastically cupped her ear after being jeered by the crowd on Thursday
She even slapped her own backside before bragging about her significant pay cheque
She believes she was primarily heckled because she was facing the last Australian standing
‘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.
‘I’m from a different country, here competing against someone that’s from here. Ultimately it was a pretty cool environment I thought.
‘Even though it was pretty rowdy, this girl loves it, so…
‘All I have to say is good luck pissing somebody off or getting under the skin of somebody that really doesn’t care.’
Speaking after her fourth round loss, Collins joked her friends on tour had asked whether they would be invited on the yacht after her on court vow to go on a luxury holiday.
