Collins enjoyed a career highlight over the summer, becoming an Olympian. In her first appearance at the Games, world No. 11 reached the quarter-final but had to retire.

The American forced a decider after losing the first set but she picked up an abdominal injury and forfeited the match with Swiatek leading. As they shook hands at the end of the match, both women found themselves involved in a heated conversation.

“I told Iga she didn’t have to be insincere about my injury,” Collins later recalled. “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.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Swiatek admitted she didn’t know what Collins meant but said she wouldn’t argue. More than three months later, the 30-year-old has now addressed their disagreement and admitted she could have taken a “different approach”.

“I think what happened on the court is very much just like sometimes people have friction at work,” the former Australian Open finalist told The Athletic. “For most people, it’s not on the news.

“I’m trying to be the best person that I can be, but that’s not to say that I don’t fall short of that. I could have taken a different approach and done some things differently. But we had a moment there on court.”

But the two tennis stars still haven’t properly spoken since. “She’s not someone that I really get to see a lot at the tennis and she’s very guarded with her group,” Collins added.

The American also pointed out that arguments on the ATP Tour didn’t get as much attention. She added: “We all make mistakes and fall short. And I’m just trying to put that behind me.

“I think when guys kind of get into a little tiff or a little bit of friction, I think that it’s kind of expected.

“With women, it becomes this way bigger issue than it really needs to be. There’s a lot of extrapolation.”