American tennis player Danielle Collins announced in January 2024 that she would retire after the end of the season. Since then, the 15th-ranked player has been in sensational form and ahead of the forthcoming Italian Open, which will be her last tournament in Rome, Collins spoke at length about her retirement and is shocked how people are not willing to accept her retirement call.

In a recent interview with Tennis TV, the 30-year-old Collins stated, “I think society and even the people who follow my life closely have had a difficult time accepting the fact that I’m retiring, and it’s really bizarre!”

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She further opined, “I’m going to be 31 at the end of the year, and that’s around the time when people make that milestone! It’s like, give me a break! Let me retire and have a family in peace!”

Since her retirement decision became official, Collins earned her first WTA 1000 title in Miami with an easy win over Elena Rybakina in the final. Further, she went on to defeat the likes of Ons Jabeur, Sloane Stephens and Maria Sakkari to clinch the Charleston Open title. In addition, the American continued her winning run in Madrid and earned 15 wins in a row before losing to eventual runner-up Aryna Sabalenka.

Thus, many people are not able to understand her retirement call at a time when Collins has everything going for her. Nonetheless, the star player — who has a career-high WTA ranking of No. 7 in singles — remains firm on her decision and also revealed her post-retirement plans.

In the same interaction, Collins mentioned, “I’ve always enjoyed running… I haven’t gotten to do as much of it because my training doesn’t typically include a lot of long-distance running. But I’m training for a marathon at the end of the year.”

She added, “I’m not sure which marathon, but hopefully in November-December, when I finish up the season, I’ll have a couple of months just to focus on running.”

At present, Collins is gearing up for the 2024 Italian Open, where she kicks off her campaign versus Russia’s Anna Blinkova on Friday (May 10). 

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