Collins embraces the crowd’s boos for a wild Australian Open match

MELBOURNE, Australia – When world no. 11 American Danielle Collins retires from playing tennis, she may just have a future in professional wrestling after playing up to a hostile crowd during her second-round win at the Australian Open.

Facing Australia’s last hope in the women’s draw, Destanee Aiava, in the final game on what has become a bit of a party pitch at the Kia Arena, hot favorite Collins was taunted every time she made a mistake and taunted when she hit a double fault. , when the Australians almost staged a major rebellion.

But after posting the 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2 victory to secure his place in the third round, Collins decided to have some fun with the crowd, kissing them and asking them to do more noise, and even slaps her back in the direction of the crowd.

Then Collins faced the on-court interview. While it started normally, she started getting booed, so she grabbed the mic – WWE style – from the interviewer and taunted the Aussie fans some more.

“You know, I thought during the game, I thought, ‘Hmm, if I’m out here, I might as well take the big fat paycheck,'” Collins said.

“(My friend Coco Vandeweghe) and I love, we love a good five-star vacation, so part of that check goes to that, so thanks guys, thanks for coming out and supporting us tonight.”

In a post-fight interview with ESPN, Collins doubled down, saying it’s a “pretty awesome” feeling to be able to win in the face of a belligerent crowd.

“I’m definitely someone who needs to have a bit of a fire under my ass, and I feel like all of this just motivates me to do better,” she said.

“It’s a pretty great feeling as an athlete because the people who don’t like you or hate you are paying your bills, so it’s a really rewarding feeling. “Thanks for the paycheck, Australia.”

She later reposted the video of her celebrations to her Instagram accountwith Taylor Swift’s song “Look What You Made Me Do” playing over the top of it.

A little more measured in her post-match press conference, Collins said she likes to embrace the ups and downs of the tennis court and admitted she knew she would be up against the crowd trying to get the local hope over the line.

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Danielle Collins thanks Aussie Open crowd for paying her bills

Danielle Collins says “bring it on” after the Australian Open crowd booed her following her win over Destanee Aiava.

“I mean, look, Destanee is from here. I think they really wanted her to win. I think there were a lot of people who were super drunk and had a hard time controlling themselves and were really excited ,” she said.

“Obviously my professional career isn’t going to last forever. So I remind myself every day when I have things like that, they pay my bills.

“Every person that bought a ticket to come out here and mock me or do whatever they’re doing, it all goes to the Danielle Collins Fund. Yeah, bring it on. I love it.”

With her second-round victory, Collins is guaranteed a $180,000 (AU$290,000) paycheck, even if she loses her next match against fellow American Madison Keys. The 31-year-old said she knows exactly what she wants to spend the money on.

“Me and my group of girlfriends love a five star vacation. I can guarantee you the check will go towards our next five star trip, hopefully to the Bahamas,” she joked. “We like big boats, we like big boats, we like yachts. We write about it so you know how it goes.”

Does Collins mind playing the villain?

“All I have to say is good luck pissing someone off, getting under the skin of someone who doesn’t give a… can I say that?” she laughed.