The WTA 1,000 in Miami had an unexpected winner for several reasons. Not because Danielle Collins is a bad tennis player, far from it: she is a Grand Slam finalist (Australian Open 2022) and has become number seven in the world. But just a month ago she left Austin due to a back problem that affected her daily life: she recognized that her boyfriend had to help her do everyday tasks, that she could barely walk.
That’s one of the reasons. The other, that the American announced in January that this was going to be her last year as a professional. She said it after putting Iga Swiatek on the ropes in Australia. She dominated 4-1, with a double break, in the third set, in the second round, and suffered the comeback of the world number one. “It’s going to be my last season on the circuit,” she confessed. “I think I’ve had a good career, with a lot of ups and downs, obviously, but this is a very tough sport with the travel and the demanding schedule,” she continued. For her it has been a little harder still, since she has had and still has to deal with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease that can cause inflammation and pain in the joints. “I feel like I have many other things I want to do in this life, and I would like to have the time to do it. Obviously, having children is one of them,” Collins announced at the time to explain her decision.
In Miami he lost the first set of the first match he played against his compatriot Pera, but he came back with a double 6-1 and from then on no rival has managed to win a set or even the final, not even more than three games in a set. She has gone from beating to beating and in the title fight the Kazakh Rybakina, the fourth in the world and great favorite, also succumbed 7-5 and 6-3.
After achieving the most important success of her career (she has two other WTA titles, but of lesser category), the question was clear in the subsequent press conference: “Are you considering your decision?” “No,” she replied. And he developed the answer: “I live with a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the possibility of getting pregnant. It is a deeply personal situation that I have already explained. There is much more at stake than tennis and my career, which I am enjoying, but it is about a life decision, which should be easily understandable”.
Collins also revealed that Miami is a tournament that she always wanted to see in the stands, and that she begged her father to take her, and that he replied that he would go when he participated in it. Not only has she participated, she can already boast of having won it.
2024-03-31 16:33:15
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