- Danielle Collins, an American tennis player ranked 46th in the world, is preparing for the French Open by playing in a tournament in Strasbourg, France.
- Collins has made the headlines for chastising a cameraman for being too close to her and opponent Emma Raducanu during a changeover.
- Collins has also had words for defending French Open champion Iga Świątek lately.
The French Open kicks off in Paris, France, on Sunday. Some players are taking the week off to practice, while others are playing in tournaments in Strasbourg, France, and Rabat, Morocco.
American Danielle Collins is participating in the tournament in Strasbourg, and the outspoken Collins had some words for a cameraman who was too close for comfort, she felt.
Collins Tells Cameraman He is “Wildly Inappropriate”
The confrontation took place during a third-set changeover of a second-round match between Collins and Emma Raducanu of Great Britain on Wednesday.
Collins was upset at the cameraman for being too close to both her and Raducanu during the changeover, and expressed her feelings. The American then apologized to Raducanu for the confrontation.
Collins would go on to use the incident as motivation as she beat Raducanu 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in two hours and 20 minutes. She is now in the semifinals of the Strasbourg tournament as Collins’ quarterfinal opponent, Anna Kalinskaya, had to withdraw from their match with a calf injury. Collins will play the winner of Paula Badosa and Liudmila Samsonova in their quarterfinal match on Wednesday.
After the match, Raducanu added her opinion of the incident:
"I was standing up because I did not want to sit down in the third set because of my back. I was staying standing because it was a bit more comfortable, and then she came to fill her bottle up and was just saying how the cameraman was really close and felt a bit inappropriate, but that is all she was saying."
Collins is known to be outspoken on the court, but it doesn’t bother Raducanu.
“For me, I don’t mind it. It’s just competition. We are trying to fight for each point. I kind of expect it from her as well. Off the court, we are both cool. We can talk and have conversations, but on the court, we are both trying to win.
Collins Also Has Words for French Open Champion Swiatek
Collins has also made news recently for a conversation between her and Iga Świątek after a quarterfinal match at the Paris Olympics. Świątek won 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 as Collins had to retire due to injury.
Collins stated:
“I told Iga she didn’t have to be insincere about my injury.
There’s a lot that happens on camera, and there are a lot of people with a ton of charisma and come out and are one way on camera and another way in the locker room.
And I just haven’t had the best experience, and I don’t really feel like anybody needs to be insincere. They can be the way that they are. I can accept that, and I don’t need the fakeness.”
Collins recently beat Świątek 6-1, 7-5, in the Round of 32 of a clay-court tournament in Rome. The American is also upset that she isn’t getting more credit for the win, claiming that the discourse is more about Świątek’s poor form as of late.
“Yeah, I thought I played really well against, you know, Iga, I didn't get a ton of credit for it. Like after the match of course, you know, it’s just more about how poorly you know she (Iga) played and everything.
But that can make it difficult to be able to celebrate your win sometimes, when you feel like you have a good match, or you're playing well and it's just like, whatever. So yeah, I was happy about it, but yeah, dealing with that wasn't, it wasn't as fun as I imagined.”
The women’s French Open odds have Collins as a longshot at tennis betting sites, while Świątek is at the top of the board after winning four of the last five French Opens at Roland Garros. If the two meet in Paris, you can be sure that their match will receive a lot of attention!
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