Collins' retirement fairytale in danger of being wrecked by nightmare streak

Collins’ retirement fairytale in danger of being wrecked by nightmare streak

Posted by Admin September 12, 2024 Tennis

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Danielle Collins’ incredible retirement season has stalled following another opening-round exit in Guadalajara.

The world No. 11 is now on a four-match losing streak and could end her career on a disappointing note after a strong first half of the year.

After announcing her plan to hang up her racket at the end of 2024, Collins lifted her biggest title at the Miami Open and re-entered the top 10. But she could now only have two tournaments left and will need to rediscover her best level as soon as possible to go out on a high.

Collins’ woes continued at this week’s WTA 1000 in Guadalajara, where she was the second seed. She was stunned by world No. 152 Olivia Gadecki on Wednesday as the qualifier ousted her 6-3 6-3.

The 30-year-old also lost her opening matches at the US Open – her last Grand Slam appearance – and the Monterrey WTA 500. Adding her retirement during the third set of her Olympics quarter-final, Collins has lost four matches on the bounce with her last win coming in late July.

The American has been vague about her retirement schedule but she is on the entry list for the WTA 1000 in Beijing and is also ranked high enough to compete in the final 1000-point tournament of the year in Wuhan the following week.

Collins is also eighth in the race to the WTA Finals – the season-ending championships where only the top eight players who have earned the most ranking points in a single year qualify. But her spot in Riyadh could be in danger.

As a Grand Slam champion, Barbora Krejcikova will automatically qualify for the year-end finals as long as she remains in the top 20. This means there are only seven spots left for the taking, and Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka have already taken two.

Collins will need to have big runs during the Asian swing if she wants to move up and book her spot at the WTA Finals for the first time. It would be a fitting way to end her career. But it could be a nightmare finish if her losing streak continues.

The 30-year-old has been battling injuries and physical issues during her disappointing run. Collins also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis. She retired from her singles match at the Olympics after suffering from a heat stroke and straining her abdomen. Collins then missed the WTA 1000 events in Canada and Cincinnati because of the ab injury.

“I had a similar injury to this area almost four years ago that kept me from competing for over four months. Obviously I don’t want to have a repeat of that. As I am approaching the end of my career, it has been important to try and rest and recover so that this can heal as quickly as possible,” she explained.

After crashing out of the US Open, Collins said she no longer felt any pain while playing but admitted her preparations had been wrecked by the injury. Addressing her plans for the remainder of her farewell season, she added: “I mean, I’m still playing the rest of the year, or at least that’s the plan right now. You never know with life’s challenges and, you know, health stuff.

“We’ll see. But yeah, I was kind of just bummed I couldn’t play some of my best tennis. I was all over the place with my shots. I feel like my timing was a bit off, and stamina and this and that.

“You know, it’s to be expected. I went through a lot at Olympics with the heat stroke. I got really sick after. You know, I’m immunocompromised. I felt like that played a little bit of a role. I’ve just been really physically challenged the last couple of weeks even just with, you know, the time off, you know.

So, yeah, I feel like I still haven’t physically, like, completely recovered. I mean, obviously I’ve got myself back to where I’m not having pain with the injury too. But, you know, it’s hard when you kind of have a lot of momentum going, and then you have a sudden stop and some things that come up health-wise. So it’s been, yeah, challenging.”