Danielle Collins was supposed to retire at the end of the 2024 season, but she has now surprisingly changed her decision.
Collins announced that she would retire from tennis after her loss at the Australian Open this year. It initially seemed like something she said only in the heat of the moment, as the American player was the defending finalist and lost already in the third round of the Melbourne Slam.
However, she later confirmed the decision multiple times, and even after winning the biggest title of her career at the Miami Open, Collins refused to even start a conversation about possibly changing her decision.
The 30-year-old explained multiple times that she’s been dealing with conditions that make it challenging for her to become pregnant, and as such, she wanted to step away from the sport earlier to increase her chances of becoming a mother.
Now, however, she surprised the whole tennis world by announcing that she won’t be retiring from the sport at the end of the 2024 season.
“Hi everyone, I’ve been a little MIA the last few weeks so I want to give everyone an update. It’s been a stressful time with these horrific hurricanes that wiped through Florida, and on top of it I’ve been dealing with some issues around my endometriosis and other health challenges.”
“While I was very excited and eager to wrap up my tennis career on a high note this year and jump headfirst into my next chapter of life, things have not gone as planned.”
“In addition to managing some lingering health challenges the past few months, I’ve recently been seeing a handful of specialists to better understand what my best path forward is to achieve my ultimate dream, starting a family.”
Initially, it was not clear where might the American player retire. The US Open seemed like one option, and after she had a great season, the WTA Finals started to look like a possibility, too.
However, Collins started to struggle with injuries in the last part of the season, preventing her from earning enough points to qualify for the WTA Finals. Therefore, her retirement was supposed to take place at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. That, however, is not the case anymore.
“Dealing with endometriosis and fertility is a massive challenge for many women and something that I am actively traversing, but I am fully confident in the team I am working with. It is just going to take longer than I thought. So, the DANIMAL story has not reached its conclusion. I will be back on tour in 2025.”
Fans started to be suspicious already when Collins’ name appeared on the official entry list for the 2025 United Cup, which is the first tournament of the new season, and she confirmed that she was indeed not retiring only a few hours after that.
“While there are no guarantees in life, I hope to build on my 2024 momentum and keep playing until there is more certainty around my personal fertility journey. The only guarantee for now will be some more epic matches.”
“Thank you to all of my fans and the amazing people behind me that have been so encouraging during this time and also to my closest friends on tour that have been supporting me every step of the way.”
