“You know, everyone loves Ons Jabeur and she has a huge fan base, there’s no denying that, so it’s going to be a tough match. We’ve played some incredible battles and obviously I’m familiar with her game, but I need to recover, prepare and be ready.
Ons and I have great memories on and off the court. I spent the new year with her and her husband last year, so that was pretty fun. She’s definitely going to be a fan favorite and I’m going to come here and… I mean, coming here and having such great support for all the athletes, this is our favorite event.”
With these beautiful words, Danielle Collins revealed the details of her friendship with Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur. Her and Jabeur will face each other in the 2nd round of the WTA in Charleston.
Collins, winner of the Miami Open, defeated Paula Badosa in the first round and will now challenge her friend, who is already in the 2nd round thanks to a bye. No time to rest for her victory in Florida that the American has already projected herself to Charleston, where she will try to obtain a new prestigious result, in what will be the last year of her career.
Danielle Collins on facing Jabeur in Charleston
“Ons & I have had great memories on and off court. Took in the new year with her & her husband last year. That was fun. She’ll definitely be the fan favorite.”
*crowd cheers for Danielle* 🥹 pic.twitter.com/fq8pzePQWl
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 2, 2024
Danielle won Miami but confirmed her retirement
Collins, at the end of two wonderful weeks, managed to win the WTA 1000 title in Miami, the first of her career, which will end at the end of the season.
The American tennis player talked at the press conference that she has no second thoughts about her retirement, despite her triumph in Florida.
Her definitive crowning achievement came in the final, with a deserved success against Elena Rybakina.
“It’s a dream come true to play at the level I played at in this tournament. It was a real adventure for me. I reached my first WTA 1000 final at the age of 30, it was a different path to what I had experienced. It was incredible to go on the pitch and feel the energy of the fans, impressive.
I will never forget this day for this very reason. Everywhere I looked, there were people cheering me on. It was hard to hide the emotion from all the support. We live for these kinds of moments, it was really special,” she said at the press conference.
“Like I said, I have some health problems and that makes things off the field more difficult. I hope everyone can respect that, it’s something very personal. I always wanted to win every competition I entered, but now I think about it because it’s the my senior year.
I really wanted to try to win my first WTA 1000 this year, it’s something really important for me. It’s something I’ve talked about quite a bit with my inner circle. I wanted to give everything, show my best tennis. I’m happy that I was able to resolve some of the physical issues necessary to achieve the best version of me,” she added.
