Danielle Collins admits that the last couple of months not going as expected on her life plan contributed to her decision to continue playing because tennis is "a good distractor" from problems.
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At the start of the year, the 30-year-old announced she was playing her last season on the WTA Tour and she kept repeating that message throughout the year. During the Sunshine Double in Indian Wells and Miami, the American candidly opened up to American reporters, sharing with them that she was retiring because she wanted to focus on battling endometriosis and hopefully accomplish her life dream of becoming a mother.
For context, endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition that negatively impacts fertility. While preparing for what were expected to be her last tournaments, Collins was also visiting specialists. Sadly, the news the news she seemingly received indicated that it would take more time for her to win her health battle. So the 2022 Australian Open runner-up figured out that continuing with her pro career might help.
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"Yeah, definitely some mixed emotions. You know this past couple of weeks, going through all of those appointments and just trying to work through all of the information that you get during that process, it's been hard at times. But while I was going through that process, I'm also thinking how lucky am I that I have the option to be able to have a career to fall back on because I couldn't imagine not having gone through those appointments and understanding the challenges that might come along with this experience and then not having my career," Collins told Sky Sports.
"So I think right now my career is a really good distractor from everything else thats going on. Bittersweet like you said, excited to be able to continue playing but also hoping that the next chapter can come sooner rather than later."
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Collins grateful to her WTA colleagues
After revealing her plans to retire, the American started to play some of her career-best tennis as she became a WTA 1000 champion in Miami and also won back-to-back titles for the first time in her career after making it all the way in Miami and then Charleston. Also, she returned inside the top-10 for the first time in two years.
Earlier this year, Collins wasn't happy at all with reporters often asking her if there was for her to squash her retirement plans. She felt it was disrespectful because she publicly opened up about her health condition.
On the other side, fellow players were much more supportive of the 30-year-old. And now, the current world No. 10 reveals that a lot of her colleagues personally reached out to her with kind messages.
"It certainly has been so encouraging hearing all of these positive words from so many people in tennis. And a lot of the girls that I compete against and the girls that have become my friends, theyve been a huge support system to me over the last couple of months - and when I have had the challenging times previously. In that way, Im really looking forward to being able to stay out and keep competing on tour. But like I said, its just been kind of a whirlwind these last couple of weeks," Collins said.
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How Collins announced her retirement U-turn?
In mid-October, tennis fans were left stunned after seeing the American's name on the list of players who signed up to represent the United States at the United Cup, which takes place in the first week of the new season. But that only could have meant one thing - that the former world No. 7 decided to stay in tennis.
And hours later, Collins issued a confirmation and revealed at the start of her message that she was "dealing with some issues around my endometriosis and other health challenges."
"In addition to managing some lingering health challenges the past few months, Ive recently been seeing a handful of specialists to better understand what my best path forward is to achieve my ultimate dream, starting a family. Dealing with endometriosis and fertility is a massive challenge for many women and something that I am actively traversing, but I am fully confident in the team I am working with. It is just going to take longer than I thought," she added in the message.
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"So, the DANIMAL story has not reached its conclusion. I will be back on tour in 2025. While there are no guarantees in life, I hope to build on my 2024 momentum and keep playing until there is more certainty around my personal fertility journey. The only guarantee for now will be some more epic matches."
After not playing for two months, Collins came to the WTA Finals as an alternate but didn't get a chance to play.
