The American tennis player joked with the media during the press conference following her first round win at the Roland Garros
Life, as we know, is expensive. Bills grow, costs triple; that’s why Danielle Collins decided to play a tournament the week before the Roland Garros! The American’s journey to the Parisian Major began with a convincing victory against Caroline Dolehide and will continue today with the 2nd round match against the Serbian tennis player Olga Danilovic. Danielle, at the press conference, joked with the media when they was asked why she decided to take to the court last week, a few days before the start of the Roland Garros. The American player participated at the WTA 500 tournament in Strasbourg and she reached the final, by winning three matches without losing a single set. In the final, however, she was unable to express her real level and suffered a harsh 1-6, 2-6 in the derby between her and Madison Keys.
“Playing is the best preparation. It’s nice that they organized a WTA 500 tournament the week before a Slam. I played and won some great matches and I think it was the best way to prepare. I didn’t think much about it and, I’ll be honest, with you: I have to pay the bills. Training weeks don’t allow you to make money unlike those in which you play a tournament,” she told.
We remind you that – barring second thoughts – this will be the last French Open of Collins’ career. At the end of March, Danielle, at the end of two wonderful weeks, managed to win the WTA 1000 title in Miami, the first of her career, which will end at the end of the season. The American tennis player constantly spoke in the press conference that she had no second thoughts about her retirement but, in the meantime, on the court she continued to play great tennis and win the toughest matches. The final breakthrough came in the final, with a deserved success against Elena Rybakina.
“It’s a dream come true to play at the level I played at in this tournament. It was a real adventure for me. I reached my first WTA 1000 final at the age of 30, it was a different path to what I had experienced. It was incredible to go on the court and feel the energy of the fans, impressive. I will never forget this day for this very reason. Everywhere I looked, there were people cheering me on. It was hard to hide the emotion from all the support. We live for these kinds of moments, it was really special. Retirement? I feel like these kinds of questions come from a positive side, a lot of people would like to continue watching me play.
![image149321](https://i0.wp.com/sportonpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image149321.webp?resize=848%2C524&ssl=1)
As I said, I have some health problems and that makes things more difficult off the pitch. I hope everyone can respect that, it’s something very personal. I always wanted to win every competition I entered, but now I think about it because it’s my last year. I really wanted to try to win my first WTA 1000 this year, it’s something really important for me. It’s something I’ve talked about quite a bit with my inner circle. I wanted to give everything, show my best tennis. I’m happy that I was able to resolve some of the physical issues necessary to achieve the best version of me,” she told.