Butt slap and kiss: Collins takes five-star Bahamas holiday with ‘big fat’ AO cheque

Australia’s biggest tennis villain, Danielle Collins, has delivered on her promise to take a five-star holiday with her “big, fat” Australian Open pay cheque, booking herself a trip to the Bahamas with the $290,000 in prizemoney she won at this year’s tournament.

The 31-year-old American caused a stir when she mocked the partisan Australian crowd during her second-round match against Destanee Aiava, telling fans to “shut up” and taunting them over her holiday plans in her post-match on-court interview.

“I was thinking during the match, if I’m out here, I might as well take that big fat pay cheque and go on a holiday,” Collins told the interviewer. “Coco [Vandeweghe] and I love taking a holiday. Part of that cheque is going to go to that.”

Collins has now made good on her promise. The world No.12 posted a video to social media on Tuesday showing her soaking up the sun, taking to the sand, and enjoying a game of pickleball at the Coral Sands Inn and Cottages on Harbour Island in the Bahamas.

The “sea cottage beach front” accommodation pictured in Collins’ video, which costs US$1700 ($2730) a night, sits just 30 metres from coral sand beaches, with a “private meandering path to the beach” that “weaves through tropical botanicals and a forest of sea grape”.

After being booed by the parochial home crowd during the match against Aiava, Collins celebrated victory by cupping her ear to the crowd and repeatedly saying, “How about that?“, before playfully kissing her hand and slapping her backside as she walked to her chair.

In case the connection between her post-match interview and Tuesday’s Instagram post with the caption, “This five star vacay”, wasn’t obvious enough, Collins spelt it out with a playful kiss to the hand and slap to the backside at the end of the video.

Collins was bundled out in the third round by eventual champion Madison Keys, but doubled down on her comments and said she loved playing in front of a crowd with energy – even when it was against her.

“It kind of just motivates me even more, so it’s kind of a good thing, especially when I’m not playing that well,” she said.

“So, I think it really helped me in the end [to] concentrate more and challenged me at times [and] pushed me kind of through the finish line.

“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.

“Obviously, my professional career is not going to last forever, so I just remind myself every day when I have that kind of stuff, they’re paying my bills … it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins fund.”

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