Danielle Collins no longer participates in the World Team Tennis. She was fired from the event in West Virginia after announcing a violation of coronavirus protocols, WTT revealed in a statement. Orlando Storm team member has left Greenbrier Resort and the state of West Virginia, which is a violation of current player health and safety protocols.
“We fired Danielle Collins (Orlando Storm) for the remainder of the World TeamTennis 2020 season after breaking our COVID-19 protocols and leaving Greenbrier Resort and the state of West Virginia,” said WTT. “The protocols have been put in place and communicated multiple times to protect the health and safety of our players, coaches and staff who are of the utmost importance for WTT.”
No further details were given as to where Collins was or why he decided to leave the state.
According to Tennis.com, the Orlando Storm team discovered the protocol violation Monday afternoon when Collins was unavailable for a scheduled COVID-19 test.
She didn’t tell anyone she was going anywhere. Yesterday we did a blood test. In the group chat it’s 3pm and we leave at 3.30pm and she says “I’m in Charlottesville [Virginia]”said his teammate Tennys Sandgren.
Storm coach Jay Gooding says he understands the decision the WTT had to make.
“They had no choice but to handle it that way, as far as I know,” he said. “I think it has been made clear that people were not allowed to leave the property, obviously for security reasons.”
Gooding told Tennis.com that she believed Collins had left the area “for nutritional purposes to get food and supplements” and added that she is probably upset about everything.
The 26-year-old spoke to CBS Sports before arriving at the tournament and expressed the multitude of measures she was taking to stay safe from the virus.
He drove to the tournament to avoid flying, bought his gym equipment during the quarantine so he could stay at home and wasn’t visiting friends or leaving home often, he said. Immunocompromised Collins told CBS Sports that the security measures put in place by the WTT made her feel comfortable playing the tournament.
“There are so many safety precautions put in place that will create the maximum protective environment,” he said. “And I think everyone can feel comfortable and know that we are doing the right things to make sure everyone is safe and sound.”
WTT’s security measures include regular COVID-19 tests, temperature controls, limited fans, no contact between players on the pitch and making sure players stay within the bubble that is the resort.
