“I needed an end date” – Danielle Collins addresses retirement timeline after win over Naomi Osaka in Abu Dhabi Open 1R

Danielle Collins addressed the timing of her retirement after she defeated Naomi Osaka on Tuesday, February 6, in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open 2024.

Collins was made to take a long route to the main draw of the WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi. She worked her way up through the qualifiers and drew Osaka as her first opponent. Collins converted four break points against Osaka and registered a comprehensive 7-5, 6-0 win to set up a clash with Elena Rybakina in the next round.

After the win on Tuesday, Collins touched on the retirement decision she made right after her Australian Open loss. At the time, she announced that she would be calling time on her career at some point in the 2024 season.

On Tuesday, Collins reinforced her intention to retire and expressed optimism about having an "end date."

"I feel like I’m in good form even though it’s my last year. I feel like I needed an end date. I've enjoyed my time on tour and had fun and gotten to have some amazing experiences I wouldn’t have had otherwise," she said during the on-court interview.

The American added that she was looking forward to achieving a few goals that she had set for herself.

"Right now it’s not over yet. I'm still competing and battling, I'm working at it. I still have some goals I want to accomplish. It was nice to have an end date because you know, the grind of the tour," she explained.

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Danielle Collins in her retirement announcement said 'losses don’t sting quite as much'

Danielle Collins

Danielle Collins began competing professionally in the year 2016, and eight years later took the call to draw the curtains on her career. She lost to Iga Swiatek in the second round of the Australian Open despite securing a commanding lead of 4-1 in the deciding set. Swiatek eventually won the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Collins later walked into the press room and said:

"This is going to be my last season, actually, competing. I don’t really know exactly when, but this will be my last season and I’m really looking forward to that."

The 30-year-old further admitted that the losses had stopped hurting significantly.

"At this point, I'm kind of at the end of my career and they [losses] don’t sting quite as much, to be honest. I have kind of gotten to the point where obviously they matter and my career means a lot to me, but at the end of the day you either win or you lose, and that’s all there is to it," Danielle Collins added.