Tennis hothead’s final swipe rubs Australia’s face in it

Just when Australian fans thought they’d seen the last of Danielle Collins, the American hothead has given one final rebuke.

Just when Australian fans thought they’d seen the last of Danielle Collins, the American hothead has given one final rebuke.

The Australian Open pantomime villain was booed off the court on Saturday night after a meek 6-4 6-4 defeat to compatriot Madison Keys.

The 31-year-old, who managed to alienate the entire nation with her crass celebrations on Thursday, used her final press conference to rub her critics’ noses in it again.

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Collins for the second time thanked the hostile crowd for contributing to the size of her piggy bank.

“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.”

Danielle Collins got the final say. Photo: YouTube, Australian Open.

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 on Thursday night, 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.

“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.”

Danielle Collins made a meek exit in the end. Photos: AFP

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.”

Collins will also want a one-on-one with the Wikipedia editor that briefly changed her bio on Saturday.

Danielle Collins and her since deleted Wikipedia page update. Photos: AFP/Wikipedia

In her introduction on the site, an edit which has since been deleted read: “Danielle Rose Collins is an American professional tennis player who became the laughing stock for an entire nation with her loss to Madison Keys in the 2025 Australian Open tennis grand slam tournament.”

There was increased interest in Saturday night’s match after Collins was widely hammered for her behaviour following her win over Australian Destanee Aiava in the second round.

After blowing kisses and smacking her own butt towards the stands, Collins told the crowd: “You know I was thinking during the match, I was like ‘hmm, if I’m out here I may as well just take that big, fat pay cheque’.

“Coco (Vandeweghe) and I just love a five-star vacation, so part of that cheque is going to go towards that, so thank you guys.”

It meant Collins was in for a hot reception on Rod Laver Arena and that’s what occurred, with the American managing a wry smile as the boos rained down upon her introduction.

The crowd was then relatively muted during the match, which lacked any of the fireworks or passion generated by Aiava’s attempt to keep her tournament going.

Collins then quickly left the stadium after the match, raising two fingers on one hand to the crowd as she left to another chorus of boos from an Australian public that won’t be wishing for a return appearance any time soon.