Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Love her or hate her, Danielle Collins’ pantomime villain persona is here to stay — and, she hopes, about to fund a five-star vacation to the Bahamas.
The fiery American became public enemy No.1 in Melbourne when she gleefully wound up the home crowd following her hard-fought win over local Destanee Aiava on Thursday night.
American 10th seed Collins, runner-up to Ash Barty in 2022, was seething throughout as a parochial crowd in the Kia Arena cheered her errors and double faults – at one point yelling, “Shut up!”.
After winning, she cupped her hand to her ear and yelled “How about that?”
She then blew kisses to the jeering and booing crowd, before slapping her backside, before further winding up the crowd in her on-court interview.
In her post-match press conference, Collins embraced the interaction.
“I loved it. I’ve been doing this my whole life,” she said.
“I love playing in a crowd that has energy, regardless of what side they’re on.
“I’m somebody, too, it kind of just motivates me even more. So it’s kind of a good thing, especially when I’m not playing that well.
“So I think it really helped me in the end. Just helped me concentrate more and challenged me at times. Just, yeah, pushed me through the finish line.
“When I finally got momentum, I’m like, ‘Well, if I’m going to be out here for two-and-a-half hours, putting up with all these people, I might as well just take the bigger pay cheque, right?’
“I was super happy to do that.”
Collins made the point ticket sales would pay for her next holiday.
“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,” she said.
“Obviously, my professional career is not going to last forever. So I just remind myself every day when I have that kind of stuff, they’re paying my bills.
“Every person that’s bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund.
“Yeah, bring it on. I love it.
“Me and my group of girlfriends love a five-star vacation.
“I can guarantee you that cheque is going to go towards our next five-star trip, hopefully to the Bahamas.”
And she doesn’t mind if the Australian crowd carries a long memory into her third-round clash with countrywoman and 19th seed Madison Keys.
“All I have to say is good luck p***ing somebody off or getting under the skin of somebody that really doesn’t care,” she said.
