American tennis star Danielle Collins recently made her stance clear on Coco Gauff’s shocking racket-smashing incident post-Australian Open quarterfinal defeat. Collins backed her compatriot while expressing concern about the players not having at least privacy to go through their emotions behind the scenes. Gauff’s actions made headlines immediately as she was seen smashing her racket out of frustration.
Danielle Collins Highlights ‘Huge Privacy Issue’ As She Gets Honest on Coco Gauff’s Racket Smash In Melbourne
Gauff entered the Australian Open quarterfinals as a favorite and looked determined to reach the semifinals, given her recent form. However, Svitolina used her experience to produce an easy 1-6, 2-6 win in just under an hour to move further in the event.
Meanwhile, Gauff seemed frustrated with her performance, and that became evident when she was later captured on security cameras.
The World No. 5 went off court, thinking she wouldn’t be recorded while venting her emotions, and subsequently smashed her rackets multiple times on the floor. However, she was captured by the security cameras, and the clip later went viral online.
In fact, during her post-match press conference, the American revealed that she had deliberately chosen a spot she believed was out of view of the cameras. She admitted to being unhappy with the tournament’s decision to later broadcast footage of the incident.
Gauff’s compatriot Danielle Collins echoed a similar stance while speaking to former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert and Coco Vandeweghe on The Big T Podcast. Collins underlined the growing privacy concerns faced by players, arguing that they are left with virtually no space to process or express their emotions. She also drew a contrast with other sports, pointing out that tennis offers an unusual level of behind-the-scenes access.
“I think it’s a huge privacy issue. I mean, first of all, we got to have some area that we can go to after a match and be able to kind of go through our thoughts, go through our different emotions, and not feel like we’re being watched every second of the day.
“I don’t see any other sports right now having the access that tennis has to the behind-the-scenes as we have. And I just think it’s so unfair to the players not being able to step off the court and being able to have their time to themselves and their own privacy,” she said.
Collins said smashing rackets after matches is common, something she has done herself, and even saw Aryna Sabalenka do so. She was relieved her own moments weren’t televised, adding that constant public scrutiny would be overwhelming and damaging for a player’s mental well-being.
“I don’t think I’m sure there’s been other players we’ve seen it with Sabalenka before and I’m sure there’s been many other players that after a match have come off the court and taken one of their rackets or a few of them and broken them. And I’ve done it too. So, right. Like, I am glad that none of that was televised for my own mental health. I can’t imagine being in that position and being under a microscope like that,” she added.
Gauff entered the 2026 Australian Open as the World No. 3, but her quarterfinal exit, combined with Elena Rybakina’s title run, saw her slip two places to No. 5 in the WTA rankings, with the Kazakh overtaking her. The American will now be eager to regain momentum and push her ranking trajectory upward in the tournaments ahead.
