Ash Barty’s feud with American antagonist Danielle Collins exposed

Australian tennis fans were left fuming with American antagonist Danielle Collins at the Aus Open, now a bitter feud has been revealed.

American tennis star Danielle Collins got under the skin of every Aussie on Thursday night, but now the lid has been lifted on her frosty relationship with a sporting icon.

Australian tennis great Ash Barty is well known for her laid-back nature but a look into how she reacted to her 2022 Aus Open triumph over Danielle Collins tells you everything you need to know about what she thinks of the American.

Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.

Collins took aim at the crowd on Show Court Arena as she defeated local hope Destanee Aiava.

The divisive American then took things to even uglier heights during her on-court interview before delivering even more jabs in her post-game press conference.

Collins doubled down in her official post-match conference: “One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is the people that don’t like you and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills. It’s kind of a cool concept.

“Me and my group of girlfriends, we love a five-star vacation, so I can guarantee you that cheque is going to go towards our next five-star trip — hopefully to the Bahamas. We like boats, we like big boats, we like yachts. So, yeah, we’ll post about it and let you guys know how it goes.”

Collins infuriated the nation on Thursday. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

While Barty has refused to come out and directly say she despises the US tennis star, it is clear she has no time for her.

In her memoir My Dream Time, Barty labelled her relationship with Collins “rocky” and described previous bouts with the American as “ugly” and “tiring”.

An excerpt reads: “Who I’ll be playing against is decided the next day. Iga Swiatek is playing Danielle Collins, and for me the equation is simple. I love Iga, and I have a rocky relationship with Danielle. I want to play Iga. I want to share it with her. But Danielle wins, and I think back to the matches we’ve had in the past and how they were never fun. I never walk off court after playing Danielle thinking, That was good tennis. Each match has been an ugly, tiring scrap.”

Tennis great Pat Rafter revealed in 2022 that there was “no love lost” between the pair after their match in the Melbourne Park final and said the Aussie secretly could not stand her.

“I knew with her (Barty) and Danielle, they had a bit of a … what’s the word … there was no love lost anyway,” Rafter said at the time.

“Danielle’s pretty feisty. And Ash didn’t want to lose to her.”

Barty after taking Collins down. Photo by Michael Klein

Veteran Herald Sun journalist Scott Gullan claims Barty ‘hates’ Collins.

“While Barty is too nice to say it as frankly as that, don’t worry she has no time for the American who she beat in that historic Open final at Melbourne Park three years ago,” he wrote.

“There was no way she was going to let Collins beat her that night and her epic second-set comeback was motivated by her dislike for the girl at the opposite side of the net.

“The exact origins of their beef isn’t widely known but it was a well-kept secret that the happy go-lucky Barty, who was loved by everyone on the tour, couldn’t stand the girl who refers to herself in the third person as ‘The Danimal”.

Collins will return to action on Saturday night when she lines up against fellow American Maidson Keys on Rod Laver Arena.

And while the hecklers will likely be out in force, the reality is there will be far more eyes on the American’s match than there would have been otherwise and for tournament organisers that’s a good thing.

Originally published as Ash Barty’s feud with American antagonist Danielle Collins exposed