Tennis Player Danielle Collins Lashes Out at Fans Mid-Match

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Tennis player Danielle Collins has heard enough.

After an afternoon marked by rowdy fans at the Monterrey Open in Mexico, Collins, 30, turned to address them directly in the middle of her Round of 16 match against Erika Andreeva.

With a group of fans heckling both participants, Collins’ resolve broke during the third set. While waiting for Andreeva to serve, the No. 11-ranked tennis player in the world threw her hands in the air out of frustration.

“What in the world?” court microphones caught her saying. “I don’t get it. It’s not that hard to let us play tennis and, like, be supportive.”

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The fans in question stopped heckling the players for the rest of the match, according to the New York Post.

This isn’t the first time Collins has lashed out at fans during a match. While facing Jaqueline Cristian at the 2024 Madrid Open, a fan tried to distract her.

“You come out and you play. Come out here and do what I do, okay? Have a little more respect,” Collins said.

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Collins defeated Cristian that day but fell in the next round to world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Despite being the No. 1 seed and a solid favorite, Collins fell in three sets (1-6, 6-3, 6-3) to Andreeva, the older sister of 17-year-old tennis phenom Mirra Andreeva. It was Andreeva’s first career win over a top-20 player.

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“Every time I play this [level] of opponent I try not to think about [their ranking], because it puts more pressure on me,” Andreeva said after the match. “Can I do it? And, I have to take all my opportunities I get. But this time I was like, OK, I just hit the yellow ball and I don’t care who I play.”

Collins most recently competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she advanced to the quarterfinals before bowing out due to an injured stomach muscle. She has battled health problems throughout her career, including rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis. She attributed her early exit to a lack of adequate water on the Paris courts.

“It’s incredibly disappointing because you work so hard your whole life to make it to the Olympics — and this is my first and my last Olympics — and something like not having adequate water on court, that’s really frustrating and it’s really sad,” Collins said, per ABC.

Collins has already announced she will retire at the end of the year, ending her career at the 2024 US Open. She has made the most of her final season, winning both the Miami Open in March and Charleston Open in April.