Danielle Collins

Danielle Collins

Danielle Collins took the long way and made it count. Two NCAA singles titles at Virginia, in 2014 and 2016, sent her into the pros later than most, and she played every match after like she meant to make up the time. She reached her first Grand Slam final at the 2022 Australian Open, run down 6-3, 7-6(2) by Ashleigh Barty, and climbed to a career-high world No. 7 that July, all while managing rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis, conditions she has discussed with rare bluntness for the sport.

In January 2024 she announced that season would be her last, a farewell tour built around starting a family. By October she had reversed course: the plans had not gone as hoped, and tennis, she said, was too good a distractor to leave behind. She played on through 2025, adding to her 4 career titles, then stepped away again, sidelined through early 2026 by a back injury and fertility treatment, including egg freezing. She has spent the time behind a microphone for Tennis Channel, still weighing when she returns, not whether.