The semi-finalist of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia talked on the Served with Andy Roddick Podcast about the importance of her college experience
College can shape the girl and boy they are into the woman and man they will be. Many professionals know this well and many athletes know this well. College shapes a person’s future. And also the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finalist Danielle Collins knows this well. Danielle – who will retire from tennis at the end of the season but is having fantastic results in 2024 – already achieved excellent results when she was a tennis student at the University of Virginia. During her years with the Virginia Cavaliers she won the 2014 and 2016 singles titles at the NCAA Tennis Championships and she won the ACC titles with her team in 2014 and in 2015.
Danielle talked on the Served with Andy Roddick Podcast about how important her college years were in her career development and personal emotional growth.
“I’m really grateful that I had those years to mature and develop strong resilience, because you have to have thick skin in this sport. It ended up working out for me as best as it could, and it really gave me time to evolve and mature physically and emotionally, because I wasn’t ready at 16 or 17. For me, college tennis was the best thing, because I wasn’t physically or emotionally mature enough or old enough to be a professional tennis player,” she told.
As mentioned, Collins will retire at the end of 2024. Danielle confirmed it again a couple of months ago, at the end of two wonderful weeks that led her to win the WTA 1000 title in Miami, the first of her career. The US tennis player constantly spoke in the press conference that she had no second thoughts about her retirement.
“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 pitch 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.
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 solve some physical problems necessary to reach the best version of me,” she explained.
Chris Evert, former WTA No.1 and 18-time Slam singles champion, questioned the future of his countrywoman. This is the question mark that characterized the post published when the American defeated Elena Rybakina in the final of the Miami Open in straight sets.
“Big hugs to Danielle Collins, congratulations on winning the Miami Open. She played spectacularly throughout the tournament… but… are you really sure you want to retire?” she wrote.
