"At 18 years old, I had $0 in my name" - Danielle Collins opens up about her humble beginnings & tennis journey

Danielle Collins recounted her journey to becoming a professional tennis player in a recent interview. She talked about the various events, experiences and people that made her the person she is today.

While talking about her parents, the American also spoke about the impact they had on her as a person. Collins said she learned how important it is to be responsible with money from that experience.

"Growing up with two parents that were so hard working and living paycheck to paycheck, I think definitely helped spark an interest in financial literacy and accounting properly," the World No. 52 said on the latest episode of My Journey | WTA x Morgan Stanley.

The former World No. 7 then opened up about the time when she had $0 in her name. That experience made her believe that the best way to set herself up for success was by going to college.

"At 18 years old, I had 0$ in my name, I didn’t come from financial opportunity, and knowing that I really felt like the best way to set myself up for success was going to college," Danielle Collins said.

The American then emphasized the boost that going to a college brought to her life, both on and off the court, saying:

"It set me up for so much success on and off the court, allowed me to evolve and grow so much more as a person, but also as an athlete. It gave me the time to physically develop, mentally develop, which was really important, because quite frankly, if I had turned pro at the young age of 16, 17 years old, I was not in a place from a maturity standpoint to be able to have the career that I would have wanted to have."

The 29-year-old ended the episode by talking about how grateful she is to be playing tennis and how happy her parents are for her.

"I’m getting to live my dream doing this and I think my parents are so proud of me and they’ve just been counting their blessings that this has been able to work out for me, the way that it has," Danielle Collins said.

A look at the career of Danielle Collins

Some interesting statistics of the American's career

Danielle Collins is a former World No. 7 in singles, a career-high rank which she reached in July 2022. She is a one-time Grand Slam finalist, having achieved the feat at the 2022 Australian Open.

En route to the final, Collins defeated Iga Świątek in the semifinals in straight sets. She lost to then World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the summit clash.

The American has won 2 WTA singles titles in her career - at Palermo (on clay) and at the Silicon Valley Classic (on hard). She won both of these titles in 2021.

The 29-year-old has also won a doubles title, at the 2023 Charleston Open with Desirae Krawczyk. Collins is currently ranked No. 52 in singles and No. 84 in doubles.