Australian Open 2025: Why Danielle Collins was right to rip into her Aussie crowd
The daftest thing of all about the crowd that hounded the American world No.10? They were giving her exactly what she wanted. The sort of volatile atmosphere she revels in.
Bravo to Danielle Collins. Her Australian Open crowd was cringe-worthy. Supporting Destanee Aiava was one thing. Booing and hissing and squealing and screeching and honking like geese at the American was another. Embarrassing. That wasn’t a knowledgeable or respectful audience. What a bunch of knuckleheads.
“Shut up!” shouted Collins during her 7/6 (7/4) 4-6 6-2 win. I couldn’t agree more. When did it become acceptable to roar your village-idiot approval of a fault? To shout profanities? Is it not possible to applaud an international player for the architecture of a wonderful point? The boofheads were doing Aiava no favours. That was the daftest thing of all. They were giving Collins exactly what she wanted. The sort of volatile atmosphere she revels in.
She reacted gloriously. A James Bond girl couldn’t have done it better. “I was thinking through the match, ‘I might as well just take that big fat pay cheque’,” she said as the jeering continued post-match. “Coco (Vandeweghe, Collins’ former doubles partner and close friend who was in her team box for the match) and I, we love a good five-star vacation, so part of that cheque will go towards that. Thank you. Thank you for coming out here and supporting us tonight. Thanks, everyone. Thanks, guys. Love you.”
Brilliant. The best Collins since Joan. I have a new favourite female player. I’m all for a raucous crowd and electrifying atmosphere but there’s a fair and respectful way to do it. By night-time on the outside courts at Melbourne Park, you can get the bozos who are sozzled and uncontrollable. They’re trying to annoy non-Australian players, and that’s fair enough, but when all is said and done and Collins has won, you’ve gotta applaud the victor.
Collins put on a great show. She was feisty and the match itself was tense and fantastic. She deserved acknowledgment for her role. Pantomime villainy should not preclude you from applause. Hounding her was misguided. It’s like sledging in cricket. You shut up against players with certain personalities. Animosity brings out the best in them. Collins is that sort of athlete. The crowd played into her hands.
She blew kisses to the knuckleheads, cupped a hand to her ear, slapped her backside after winning and said, “How about that?!” Later, she said, “I loved it. I’ve been doing this my whole life. I love playing in a crowd that has energy, regardless of what side they’re on. I’m somebody who … it motivates me even more. It’s kind of a good thing, especially when I’m not playing that well.”
Laughing all the way to the bank with a guaranteed $275,000 in prizemoney, Collins added: “It really helped me in the end. Just helped me concentrate more and challenged me at times. Yeah, it pushed me through the finish line. When I finally got momentum I’m like, ‘Well, if I’m going to be out here for two-and-a-half hours, putting up with all these people, I might as well just take the bigger pay cheque, right?’ I was super-happy to do that.”
Aiava said: “It was really fun. Kind of sounded like a rugby league match. It was very different. I think we could use a little bit more of that in tennis.”
Hear, hear, but a level of respect and decency is required. It’s tennis. There’s a balance. There are certain traditions that need to be accepted. Like, letting a player hit a second serve in peace and quiet. Caterwauling during post-match formalities is small-minded nonsense.
It rarely happens on Rod Laver Arena. Fewer knuckleheads in there. Collins’ gleeful point to her hecklers was that the money they paid for their tickets would contribute to the pile of loot she’ll take home sweet home. “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,” she purred. “Obviously, my professional career is not going to last forever. I just remind myself every day when I have that kind of stuff, they’re paying my bills. Every person that’s bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund. Bring it on. I love it.”
She added: “Me and my group of girlfriends love a five-star vacation. I can guarantee you that cheque is going to go towards our next five-star trip, hopefully to the Bahamas. All I have to say is good luck pissing somebody off or getting under the skin of somebody that really doesn’t care.”
Collins faces fellow American Madison Keys in her next match.
Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have no more commitments. They attempted a good thing by playing their doubles while injured on John Cain Arena against James Duckworth and Aleksandar Vukic, but it turned very bad, very quickly.
Kokkinakis needs surgery. Kyrgios needs some thinking music. Is he dedicated enough to get properly fit for the tour? There’s no guarantee.
“Obviously I’ve been out for a year and a half, two years, so I don’t know what this year’s going to bring,” he said after they retired at 7-5, 3-2 in arrears. “I’m going to trust the process. I’m hitting the ball great but I’ve still got a long way to get back to that same level I was in 2022. The maintenance … four, five hours on the treatment table every day to not even have the guarantee to be healthy to play a week of tennis, I think I’m weighing up my options.”
Sounds doubtful. His abdominal strain will heal but his wrist remains damaged, despite surgery. Kokkinakis was devastated. His entire career has been dogged by injuries. Shoulder and pectoral issues have become unbearable.
“Doctor advised me not to play,” he said. “I’m going to need to do a serious procedure now. I’ve got to speak to as many experts as I can. I can’t serve, can’t hit a high forehand, I’m in a lot of pain. There was a lot of talk about us playing again and I wanted to come out here and see if I was somewhat competitive, even without a serve. Just wanted to get on court again with the big fella. We knew we had a big crowd waiting for us but any other event, any other circumstance, I’m not stepping foot on court.”
Kokkinakis is ambitious, dedicated, gifted, but his body keeps packing it in. Heartbreaking for the bloke and anyone who knows him. He took US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper to five sets with a right arm hanging by a thread. “I was restricted,” he said. “I knew coming into the event I was just going to leave everything out there. It wasn’t just my forehand. It wasn’t just my serve. My arm’s essentially cooked and I need to fix it. It’s going to take some time. It’s frustrating. I was distraught, not because of the loss (to Draper) but because I knew I couldn’t compete at my best. Which was tough.”
It’s been suggested that Kyrgios could become a doubles specialist because it’s easier on the body. No chance. He’ll play top-level singles or nothing at all. “As soon as we got to the locker room I told Thanasi thanks for even stepping out,” Kyrgios said. “I knew it was going to be a big effort from him. It’s been a special court for me in my career. To go out there one more time was good. I loved being out there and feel like the crowd appreciated especially Thanasi, but even me. I would have been happy to not take the court today.”
One more time? Perhaps that was a slip of the tongue. Perhaps deep down Kyrgios knows he’s done. “It’s good to be back, but I think it’s weird,” he said. “Me and Thanasi are the older kind of guys now. In the locker room you have (Joao) Fonseca, you’ve got this next generation of talent coming through. I definitely feel like we’re a bit on the older side, especially the way our bodies are. The next generation is pretty special. It’s good to be back but it’s not easy. The process of getting back here – for me, I didn’t think I was ever going to step on a tennis court again after my wrist surgery. It was good to be back and be a part of it.”
You know who makes a great crowd? Brazilians. Their fervour during Fonseca’s five-set loss to Italian Lorenzo Sonego was over-the-top but joyful. They roared for their teenage sensation then applauded Sonego in the aftermath. Watching Fonseca’s first major has been like watching a young Elton John’s breakout concert at the Troubador in West Hollywood. The hype is real. The kid’s a superstar. But the ebbs, flows, tos and fros of five-set tennis overwhelmed the 18-year-old.
“I think when you play five sets, it’s different. The experienced players know better when to be intense. There’s going to be ups and downs during the match. I need to have more experience on this. I need to work more to stay mentally focused during the whole match … it’s my dream to play the tour, like the real tour where the top 50 players play. The Masters, the ATP 500s, the 250s. I want to live playing this. I want to get my place in this environment and keep working to go bigger. For myself, for my opinion, the sky’s the limit. You need to work more and more to reach your dream. Which is to become No.1.”
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