Tennis ‘villain’ smacks butt in Australia’s face after furore

Tennis star Danielle Collins has chosen not to forgive and forget Australia after the nation turned on her in Melbourne.

Danielle Collins has made good on her promise to rub Australia’s face in it.

The former Australian Open finalist was booed off court after her third round defeat to eventual champion Madison Keys after the Melbourne crowd turned on her.

The hot-headed American became public enemy number one at Melbourne Park after she mocked the crowd following her victory over Australian Destanee Aiava.

Collins exited the tournament with a final comment in her post-match press conference that she was planning to have a holiday in the Bahamas after telling an angry crowd that they were contributing to her “big, fat pay cheque”.

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Instead of rushing into her next WTA Tour tournament, Collins, 31, has taken a break at the picturesque Caribbean country — and she’s let everyone know with photos and videos she has shared on her Instagram account.

The clip also showed Collins mimicking the same backside slap gesture she performed in front of spectators at Rod Laver Arena.

The world No. 12 ranked player blew kisses to the crowd and slapped her backside as if to say “kiss my a**” during her run at the Open.

The same act in the Bahamas has not been lost on tennis commentators.

Danielle Collins slapped her butt in Australia's face. Photo: Instagram, @danimalcollins.

Collins captioned her post: “This five star vacay brought to you by @coralsands_harbourisland #travelgram #bahamas #instatravel #harbourislandbahamas.”

The video she shared showed her posing for the camera in a bikini and lying on a recliner chair on the beach.

She also showed off the opulence of her accommodation and her private entrance to a tourist beach.

The most notable thing was Collins playing pickleball where she slapped her backside at the end of a rally.

The video will not sit well with those who taunted her last month.

She used her final press conference to again thank the hostile crowd for contributing to the size of her piggy bank.

Danielle Collins on the Bahamas sand. Photo: Instagram @danimalcollins.

“It’s wonderful that I can capitalise on these opportunities,” she said.

“I think that six different sponsorship opportunities come up this tournament alone. That’s a great signal for me.

“Obviously, like I said, every fan contributes to that. It’s been a real blessing.”

She said she does not care what the crowd was saying during the match — or what has been said about her on cyberspace.

Her comments came after she was widely pilloried for mocking the crowd, boasting about plans to enjoy a “five-star vacation”.

“I’m just trying to have fun,” she said.

“I’m just try to enjoy my life and have fun with it. All my friends on tour... they knew I was just being me and trying to make humour of the situation.

Danielle Collins smacks her butt at the Aussie Open. Photo: X.

Danielle Collins provokes the crowd. Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images.

“Then I had a lot of my friends be, like, ‘Well, am I getting invited on the yacht’.

“Yeah, a lot of the girls on tour were, like, ‘Well, you’re inviting me, right?’.

“That’s all that matters. At the end of the day you can’t please everybody. The most important thing is your friends and family and what they think.

“Nobody got hurt. That’s the main thing. This is sports. I don’t think the banter is necessarily a terrible thing.”

When asked what her plans are for the WTA Tour this year she also took another subtle shot at the crowd: “Obviously I’ve got to, I said I was going to The Bahamas, right”.

“A couple of my friends were, like, ‘We can get it booked whenever you want. Just give us 48 hours, and we can get this thing booked’.

“Yeah, I’ve got to fit that in there for a few days. Yeah, we’ll see what happens. I’ll keep you guys updated for sure. I will definitely send pictures to everyone.”

She also had a crack at Channel 9 presenter Tony Jones — for the second time.

Jones earlier in the week called Collins a “brat”.

She joked she wanted to do a one-on-one dance with the Footy Show host.

“I love this old guy, Tony Jones,” she said.

“Sorry, everybody in the room that’s over, like, 70. I just love how he called me a brat. It’s just so Gen Z and Millennial right now.”

Australian fans will have to wait 12 months before they next cross paths with the provocative, pantomime villain.

Originally published as Tennis ‘villain’ smacks butt in Australia’s face after furore