Tennis star who grew to become Australian Open villain after clashing with followers makes massive name on returning to Melbourne Park
Danielle Collins is set to snub the 2026 Australian Open.
The fiery American star, who is nicknamed the ‘Danimal’ clashed with Aussie fans at Melbourne Park in January after she told spectators, who had heckled her, to ‘shut up’ during her second-round victory against home favourite Destanee Aiava.
The 31-year-old had also slapped her backside towards fans as if to say ‘kiss my a**’ and later boasted that she would be spending her $290,000 prize cheque on a girls’ trip to the Bahamas, after progressing to the third round.
‘During the match [against Aiava] I was like, while I’m out here I might as well take that big fat paycheck,’ Collins said while being booed in her on-court interview.
‘We love a five-star vacation, so a big part of that will go towards that.
‘So thank you guys, thanks for coming out here and supporting us tonight. Thank you guys, love you.’
Danielle Collins is set to snub the 2026 Australian Open after the American star enraged fans at Melbourne Park last year
The fiery American star, who is nicknamed the ‘Danimal’ clashed with Aussie fans after she told spectators to ‘shut up’ during her second-round victory against home favourite Destanee Aiava
It is unclear why Collins has chosen to opt out of playing the event with Nine’s Wide World of Sport, stating that Tennis Australia was also unaware of the reason
Collins embraced her new pantomime villain moniker in her subsequent match against Maddison Keys, but would ultimately suffer a straight-sets defeat against the eventual 2025 Australian Open women’s singles champion.
She was booed during that game and later claimed that fans had taken things far too seriously.
On Tuesday, the entry list for the Australian Open was unveiled, but Collins’ name was not present. The top 104-ranked players on the WTA Tour automatically qualify for the main draw of the event, with Collins currently No 64 in the charts.
It is unclear why Collins has chosen to opt out of playing the event with Nine’s Wide World of Sport, stating that Tennis Australia was also unaware of the reason.
It comes after the American star was knocked out in the first round of the US Open in straight sets by world No 39, Jaqueline Cristian, and had also struggled to reach the later rounds of the Grand Slam’s precursor events in Washington, Montreal, and Cincinnati.
Despite that, Collins would go on to reach the third round at Wimbledon this year, where she was knocked out by Iga Swiatek.
Her best finish came at the Strasbourg International, where she bested Sofia Kenin, Emma Raducanu and Anna Kalinskaya to reach the semi-finals. She was ultimately knocked out by Liudmila Samsonova.
Five Australians have been named on the entry list for the women’s singles, including Maya Joint, Daria Kasatkina, Kimberley Birrell, Emerson Jones and Ajla Tomljanovic.
Despite having claimed that he was igniting an Australian Open comeback bid, Australian Nick Kyrgios has seemingly not been given a wildcard for the men’s singles.
James Duckworth, Patrick Kypson of the USA and China’s Yunchaokete Bu were all handed wildcards.
Kyrgios, who will feature in the Australian Open’s new One Point slam, may still participate in the doubles events.
