Danielle Collins found herself in a tough spot. The American grabbed headlines this year, but not for the reasons you might hope. At the Australian Open, boos rained down during her R2 clash with home favorite Destanee Aiava. Then came the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she called out a cameraman during her match with Emma Raducanu. This time, things took an even wilder turn. A fan’s enthusiasm? Way over the line.
Tuesday at the Mubadala Citi DC Open came packed with drama. Danielle battled Poland’s Magda Linette in a match that kept everyone on edge. Tension rippled across the court. It wasn’t just the tennis. A heckler rose from the crowd, repeatedly taunting Collins with a sarcastic “Come on, Danielle!” The shouts were impossible to ignore. The umpire wasted no time, calling out the behavior and shutting down the antics.
But the plot thickened. During a changeover, as Collins took her seat courtside, things got ugly. One rowdy spectator ramped up the hostility. He hurled, “I knew you were a racist when I saw you on TV.” The words sliced through the air. Collins, rattled, tried to stay composed. The crowd and officials watched in shock. The sting was obvious. The 2022 Australian Open finalist fought to keep her poise and focus, but that moment lingered.
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Security didn’t hesitate. They swooped in, escorted the heckler out, and play resumed. But the distraction stuck like glue. Collins struggled to regroup. Linette pounced on the momentum, winning in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. For Collins, Washington delivered a disappointment. The real blow? That ugly fan incident overshadowed the whole match.
No, this wasn’t the first time a WTA player faced a fan’s interruption this season. In February, Emma Raducanu went through her own harrowing ordeal. She spotted a familiar face in her opener against Karolina Muchova. Raducanu became visibly distraught. She said she “couldn’t see the ball through tears” and “could barely breathe.” This man had followed her—from off-court exchanges in Dubai to matches in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. He was removed from the arena during the match and later, Dubai police handed him a restraining order.
Even Danielle isn’t new to this kind of chaos. Just last week, she opened up about her own first experience with an unwelcome individual during those early days on court. Sometimes, tennis drama falls outside the lines.
Danielle Collins reveals shocking incident with a cameraman
On July 16, Collins opened up in a candid chat on the ‘Reign’ podcast, taking aim at the double standards women face in the sport. She put it plainly: “When we respond to someone’s poor behavior, it’s our reaction that’s treated like the offense itself. It’s almost like you don’t have a right to respond. People just… they don’t get it. They don’t get what we go through.” Collins pulled no punches, calling out the unacceptable behavior from some men that often gets swept under the rug.
She didn’t stop there. Collins shared a jaw-dropping memory from her early days on tour—a run-in with a persistent cameraman that still stings years later. “I lost the long three-set match, came off the court, and was kind of cramping and tired and all of these things were happening. This guy goes, ‘Oh Danielle, you know, I’m so sorry. Can I give you a hug?’ I look at my coach and I’m like, ‘Uh, sure.’ She goes in to hug me and all of a sudden he goes in to kiss me! And I’m like, ‘Oh no!’ He literally starts making out with the side of my face.” Moments like this are the reminders of the real challenges behind the spotlight.
Collins, who burst onto the major stage as a 20-year-old wildcard at the 2014 US Open, has seen plenty of tennis drama over the last decade. The exact timing of that cameraman incident isn’t clear, but what’s certain is her resilience. She even took a step back last year, retiring briefly to focus on starting a family, and fought her way back to the tour after overcoming endometriosis—a true testament to her grit.
This season hasn’t exactly gone her way, with early exits and struggles to find peak form nagging at her heels. But if we’ve learned anything, it’s this: Danielle Collins is a fighter. Can she use this latest challenge as fuel and make another bold comeback? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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