Danielle Collins announces 2024 will be her final season following Australian Open exit

Danielle Collins has announced that the 2024 season will be her last competing on the Hologic WTA Tour.

30-year-old Collins made the announcement shortly after her three-set loss to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the second round of the Australian Open - the tournament which saw her record her best Grand Slam result after reaching the final in 2022.

‘’Yeah, this is going to be my last season, actually, competing," Collins told reporters post-match.

"I don't really know exactly when, but this will be my last season and I'm really looking forward to that.

"I feel like I've had a pretty good career. There has certainly been ups and downs to it, and I think the travel and some of the things away from the court with scheduling and all of that, this is a really tough sport.

"I have other things that I'd kind of like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis, and would like to be able to have the time to be able to do that.

‘’Obviously, having kids is a big priority for me.’’

Despite leading 4-1 in the deciding set against Swiatek, Collins was unable to seal the deal as the Pole came back to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

‘’I lost 6-4 in the third to one of the best players in the world, and she played some great tennis. I left it all on the court," Collins said.

"Her game and her career speaks for itself. I think we all know what to expect against Iga.

‘’I had to try to counter that as much as I could, I did that well at many moments. Other moments, it got away from me.’’

As she nears the end of her career, Collins revealed that losses don’t ‘sting’ quite as much as they used to.

‘’At this point, I'm kind of at the end of my career and [losses] don't sting quite as much, to be honest," she said.

"I feel like I have kind of gotten to the point where obviously they matter and my career means a lot to me, but at the end of the day, you either win or you lose, and that's all there is to it.’’