2024 Australian Open: After losing to Swiatek, Collins says this is her final season

After a second-round loss at the Australian Open at the hands of world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, former world No. 7 Danielle Collins broke the news that 2024 will be her last year competing as a professional tennis player. 

"I don't really know exactly when [she'll finish], but this will be my last season and I'm really looking forward to that," Collins told reporters after a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 loss on Thursday in Melbourne that lasted more than three hours.

"I feel like I've had a pretty good career. There has certainly been ups and downs to it, and I think the travel and some of the things away from the court with scheduling and all of that, this is a really tough sport.

"I have other things that I'd kind of like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis, and would like to be able to have the time to be able to do that. Obviously having kids is a big priority for me."

A finalist in Melbourne two years ago—where she thumped Swiatek 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals—Collins this time pushed the Polish star to the limit over 3 hours and 14 minutes inside Rod Laver Arena before falling in the second-longest WTA singles match of the season to date. After rallying from a set and a break deficit to send the match the distance, the American led 4-1 in the decider, and had 0-40 with Swiatek serving down 4-2. 

"I lost 6-4 in the third to one of the best players in the world, and she played some great tennis," Collins said. "Left it all on the court.

"Her game and her career speaks for itself. I think we all know what to expect against Iga. I had to try to counter that as much as I could, I did that well at many moments. Other moments, it got away from me."

In the first round, Collins beat 2016 Australian Open champion and former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber in a tight three-setter. Against Swiatek, Collins was bidding for her second career win against a current world No. 1, having beating Ashleigh Barty, then the game's top player, in Adelaide in 2021.

"At this point, I'm kind of at the end of my career and [losses] don't sting quite as much, to be honest," Collins said. "I feel like I have kind of gotten to the point where obviously they matter and my career means a lot to me, but at the end of the day, you either win or you lose, and that's all there is to it."

After a successful college career at the University of Virginia, where she twice won the NCAA singles title in 2014 and 2016, Collins announced herself as a pro with a run to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open as a qualifier in the spring of 2018—where she beat then-Top 10 player Venus Williams along the way. Nearly 10 months later, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal in Melbourne, ripping through the draw as an unseeded player to beat three seeds—including then-No. 2 Kerber 6-0, 6-2.