"Danielle Collins goes to hug her team, they put camera on Elena Rybakina WTF!": Serena Williams' ex-coach blasts Collins' Miami Open victory coverage

Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs was less than impressed by the coverage of Danielle Collins’ Miami Open victory against Elena Rybakina.

Unseeded Collins defeated repeat finalist Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 to clinch her maiden WTA 1000 title at the 2024 Miami Open on Saturday, March 30. She scored wins over Bernarda Pera, Anastasia Potapova, Elina Avanesyan, Sorana Cirstea, Caroline Garcia, and Ekaterina Alexandrova, enroute to the final.

The two-time NCAA champion has featured in three other finals so far in her career – winning the Palermo Ladies Open and the Silicon Valley Classic in 2021, and bagging the 2022 Australian Open runners-up trophy.

However, the Miami Open is likely to be one of Collins’ last finals on the tour. After her second-round Australian Open loss to Iga Swiatek earlier this year, the American announced that she would be retiring from tennis this season. At the time she stated that having kids is a priority.

Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs was overjoyed by Danielle Collins’ triumph during her final season. However, she was furious when the 30-year-old’s victory wasn’t adequately captured according to her.

The Aussie coach urged the broadcaster to focus on Collins and her box when she yelled at her team to “talk to her” during the tense final moments of her deciding service game.

"'Talk to me' !!! Please @WTA or @atptour whoever is in charge of the cameras keep it on Danielle right now!!!!!!!! Please!!!! I don’t want to see the crowd! She is the story! The talking to her box is what we need to see!!!" she wrote on X.

An agonized Stubbs then pointed out that Danielle Collins’ victory celebration with her team, too, was snubbed, whereas runner-up Elena Rybakina was seemingly favored.

"And omg she goes to hug her team and they put the camera on [Elena Rybakina]!! WTF !!!!! Ughhhhhhhhh," she wrote.

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Danielle Collins on her illness ahead of retirement - "That's like a deeply personal situation"

Collins pictured during final vs Elena Rybakina at the 2024 Miami Open

Danielle Collins has been vocal about her physical ordeals during her career. In 2019, the American revealed her battle with rheumatoid arthritis. In 2021, she also opened up about her endometriosis surgery.

During her 2024 Miami Open campaign, Danielle Collins touched upon the chronic inflammatory illness while fielding repeated questions on her retirement.

"I think it's really interesting how in a lot of different situations I have had to kind of justify the reasons behind retirement," the former World No. 7 said.

"I'm living with a chronic inflammatory disease that affects your ability to get pregnant, and so that's, like, a deeply, like, personal situation. I've kind of explained that from time to time," she added.

Collins, who was ranked World No. 53 before the Miami Open, has now re-entered the top 50. She will be ranked World No. 22 come Monday.