Danielle Collins Opens Up About Retirement Decision and Future Plans

Several months have passed since Danielle Collins announced that 2024 would be her last season as a professional, a bombshell that more than one has still not been able to digest. The American, in one of the sweetest moments of her career, continues to answer the same questions at each tournament she goes through, encountering people who do not share her decision, as if the opinion of others matters. In an interview with Tennis.com We can read the American rambling about this issue that has been pursuing her for several tours, although it has also been great for her when it comes to competing.

“I think that society, even the people who accompany me and follow me on the circuit, have had difficulties accepting the fact of my retirement, which seems quite strange to me. I’m going to turn 31 at the end of this season, the truth is that it is usually the usual age at which many people decide to take this step, so I often think: Give me a break! I hope they let me retire and have a family in peace,” the North American says with some fatigue.

“It’s as if some people don’t want to acknowledge that I’ve made great improvements in recent times, it’s almost as if they don’t give you credit when you confess to them that you don’t care about the same things as they do right now. The counterargument for me to rectify it is that I could go to these last tournaments knowing that it is my last chance to do well there and that, therefore, I could feel pressure and anxiety. Obviously, that is not the case,” she acknowledges with the smile of someone who is proud of her season.

The ‘Collins affair’ is so easy to understand that sometimes it is strange how there are people who do not understand it. His life, his career, his decisions. There is no more, no matter how much it may hurt from the outside to lose one of the great attractions of the circuit. “The people who support us, the fans, see us only as tennis players, not as people,” says the one from Florida. “The way my personality has evolved over the years has helped me become quite relaxed, so I don’t feel like I’m defined by my results on the court or my successes as an athlete,” she says.

PENDING ACCOUNTS

And once November arrives, he plays his last tournament and ends his professional career, what will be next? Don’t worry, Collins has no shortage of plans. “I have always really liked running, it is something that I have not been able to do as much during my career because my training does not usually include too many long distance races. Now, however, I am training for a marathon at the end of the year, I am not sure yet which marathon I will run, but I hope that in November-December, when the season ends, I will have a couple of months to focus solely on that,” he anticipates. the current world No. 15, champion this year in Miami and Charleston.

Aside from leisure, her mind also has a much more ambitious project related to health and helping people who are going through situations that Danielle knows perfectly well. “There are many places in the world with people facing women’s health issues, but many of them do not have the means to financially support themselves through these challenges. I would like to help them, provide that financial support to those who have faced similar adversities as me, be there for women who are struggling. Sometime this summer we will launch the Foundation and it will focus on women’s health and equity,” she concludes.

2024-05-14 12:15:00
#hope #retire #peace