Danielle Collins has revealed she is still weighing up her future after taking a sabbatical from tennis, and shared a light-hearted moment at the US Open where she was mistaken for a WAG.
Collins takes break from tennis
The 32-year-old skipped the 2026 season as she continues rehabbing a back injury while having undergone fertility treatments. The American initially announced her retirement in 2024 but scrapped that plan months later and returned to the WTA tour.
The former world No. 7 has been at the US Open this week in a non-playing role, engaging with the tennis community and attending matches as a fan. Days before the Grand Slam began, she opened up about her future.
"Right now, I've just been kind of enjoying tennis in a different capacity and taking it day by day," she told the Daily Mail.
Recovery and fertility treatment
Explaining her current circumstances, she added: "You know, I had a pretty bad back injury at the end of last year, so was rehabbing that a lot this first half of the year, really up until the summer. And as I've spoken about, I had frozen my eggs. So it just takes time, and I think taking it one step at a time and seeing what the future holds."
Collins' appearance in New York gave her the opportunity to post about her different conquests in the Big Apple, including playing Pickleball in Times Square and teaming up with beverage brand, Fresca Hard & Mixed. Among her interactions was a case of mistaken identity as the WTA Tour ace revealed someone thought she was a WAG.
Mistaken identity and fan reaction
She posted a photo on Instagram, sporting a zip-up jacket paired with a miniskirt and flip-flops, and captioned the upload: "Was mistaken as a Wag…"
The Florida-born Collins has caught heat for her outward personality on the court, namely her reaction to beating Aussie star Destanee Aiava at the Australian Open last year. Collins cupped her ears and blew kisses to the home crowd after her victory before thanking the hostile supporters for her "big, fat paycheck."
Collins also opened up about how she's perceived. She explained: "You can never please everyone, right? And It's not my responsibility how people perceive me.
"To me, it's really important to just be genuine to who I am and to be authentic. I do think a lot of genuine and authentic people - you can get punished for that, right? People want you to be that way, but then if you're too genuine and authentic, they're like, 'Well, I don't like that,' you know. So you're never gonna please anyone, no matter what you do in life.
"I feel like I've been very confident in that way. I can accept that. And at the end of the day, all I can try to do is be the best person I can be, but also recognise that yeah, I have some shortcomings every now and then."
The US Open 2026 is running until September 13, with all matches from Flushing Meadows broadcast live on Sky Sports.
