Danielle Collins thanks booing Australian Open crowd for ‘big fat pay check’ after beating home hope

Danielle Collins thanked a hostile Australian Open crowd for helping to fund her next vacation after beating its last home hope in the women’s draw.

Collins beat Destanee Aiava 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2 to set up a third-round meeting with U.S. compatriot Madison Keys.

As the crowd booed her while she took the mic for her post-match interview, she told them that she was thinking of that “big fat pay check” on her way to victory.

“Coco and I love a good five-star vacation,” the No. 10 seed said in reference to CoCo Vandeweghe. “So part of that check is going to go towards that. So thanks for coming out here and supporting us tonight.”

At the end of the first set, Collins blew kisses to the crowd as she sat, before repeating the trick at the end of the match.

“Thanks guys, love ya,” she said on her way off court.

Little bit of prime “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan about Danielle Collins post match!#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/nyusDgt3PP

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2025

Later in her post-match press conference, she added: “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.

“Every person that’s bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me, it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund. Bring it on. I love it.”

Collins, 31, who Coco Gauff said “is always going to be Danielle,” in a recent news conference, is not the first player to give something back to the partisan crowd — Jack Draper celebrated a five-set victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis by cupping his ear to the Australians.

Collins, a finalist in Melbourne in 2022, is unwilling to cede ground to hostility from fans and players, real or imagined.

At the Paris Olympics, Collins had a tense exchange with then world No. 1 Iga Swiatek after retiring from their Olympic quarterfinal with an injury. “I just told her not to be insincere about my injury. I don’t need the fakeness,” Collins said afterwards, drawing a befuddled reaction from Swiatek.

Collins blew kisses to the crowd in Melbourne (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Collins, who postponed her retirement from tennis after learning that her endometriosis would cause complications with her plan to start a family, has been open about how difficult that journey has been.

“You feel like you’re chasing your tail sometimes with the news that you get from your doctors because it can feel like Groundhog Day,” she told The Athletic in November.

“Other times you feel like, ‘Wow, I’ve done treatment, I’ve had surgery. And yet this thing continues to be an issue.’ And you think, ‘How is it like this?’ But that’s the thing with endometriosis, it’s not this like a tangible thing that you can just fix and that it can just go away. It doesn’t really go away.”