Danielle Collins recently opened up about her conflict with the press and social media following her decision to reverse her retirement from professional tennis and the persistent inquiries regarding her endometriosis and fertility challenges.
Collins originally planned to hang up her racket after the 2024 season. She wanted to start a family and focus on managing her endometriosis diagnosis, a condition that had already complicated her path to motherhood. But life rarely follows the script we write for ourselves.
Danielle Collins on Wanting Privacy From Media Over Retirement Reversal and Health Issues
The former World No. 7 found herself facing unexpected challenges with her condition that derailed her family planning goals. Rather than step away from tennis as planned, Collins made the difficult choice to continue competing, extending her career indefinitely as she navigated these health struggles.
Following her January 2025 announcement to keep playing, Collins quickly realized she needed to set boundaries. The constant media questions about her personal health battles became overwhelming, prompting her to post a public statement on social media requesting privacy.
During an appearance on the “Reign with Josh Smith” podcast last week, Collins opened up about the emotional toll of being so transparent about such deeply personal issues.
“With coming back this year, I was very open about the reasons behind why I decided to keep playing, and that reason is quite painful. And it’s been something that I haven’t really wanted to talk about with most people because I realize most people aren’t going to fully understand and get what I’m going through. I don’t expect them to,” Collins said.
The decision to share her struggles publicly came with an unexpected cost. Collins explained that while she wanted to be honest about her situation, she never intended for it to become a regular topic of media coverage.
“But also, I’m trying to have conversations with people who I feel like are there to support me through these challenges. So that’s not a conversation that’s meant to be for everybody and for the world,” she continued.
What Pushed Collins to Request Media Privacy?
The breaking point came early in 2025, when a reporter confronted Collins immediately after a match with questions about her fertility struggles. The timing and intensity of the questioning proved too much for the American player.
“There was a reporter who, after I came off the court after my second match of the year, just started jumping into all the fertility stuff, and I actually started crying on TV. I think they cut the interview. But I actually started crying,” she said.
That emotional moment led to an unexpected conversation that would shape how Collins handled future media interactions. The same reporter who had pushed her to tears offered some practical advice about managing public expectations.
The journalist suggested that Collins needed to be more explicit about her boundaries, pointing out that her previous openness might have given the media the wrong impression about what topics were fair game for discussion.
Collins decided to follow that advice, taking what she called a “direct” approach to protecting her privacy on social media.
“Then she told me, ‘You should probably put up a post on social media saying you don’t want to talk about your fertility stuff, because I thought that you were open to having this conversation.’ I do think you have to be very direct because if you’re not direct, people don’t know. And I respect that. Also know that sometimes when you’re a woman and you’re direct, you’re going to be called a bi*ch,” Collins added.
Despite the personal challenges she continues to face, Collins remains focused on her tennis career. She’ll return to competition at the 2025 Citi DC Open, where she’s set to face eighth-seeded Magda Linette in the opening round.
The two players have crossed paths just once before on the WTA Tour, meeting during the second round of the 2018 Oracle Challenger Series at Indian Wells. Collins won that encounter in three sets with a scoreline of 5-7, 7-6(0), 6-4.
The winner of their upcoming match at the WTA 500 hard court tournament will advance to face either Anna Kalinskaya or a qualifier in the second round, as Collins continues balancing her professional goals with her ongoing personal journey.
