Pour sa dernière en Grand Chelem, Danielle Collins espérait vivre une quinzaine surprenante et positive, à Flushing Meadows. Elle a connu tout l'inverse. L'Américaine de 30 ans, qui mettra fin à sa carrière de joueuse professionnelle en fin de saison, a échoué dès le premier tour de l'US Open, ce mardi. Battue par sa compatriote Caroline Dolehide en trois manches (1-6, 7-5, 6-4), elle a donc disputé son dernier match en Grand Chelem. C'était son neuvième US Open. Collins n'a plus beaucoup d'essence dans le réservoir. Assez pour briller une dernière fois avant la fin ?
Vidéo : @US Open
Vidéo : @US Open
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00:00I had 12 days off, minimal preparation, kind of going into it. I did my best and
00:12that's all I could do. There were times that I hit some good shots and there
00:17were times that, you know, it didn't go my way, but I think overall
00:22Caroline played, you know, very well and was running down a lot of balls, so all
00:27credit to her. Yeah, yeah, you know, no one out here is immune to having bad
00:38days and, you know, I've physically really been through it, you know, since the
00:46Olympics, so it's been been a struggle.
00:51Hey Danielle, Matt Futterman from The Athletic. Was it at all challenging or in any way to
00:59sort of clear your head and sort of keep it as just a tennis match and not to
01:03think of sort of larger things like, you know, last times here and things like
01:08that and what is that, what has that process been like the last couple weeks
01:11coming into your home slant? Yeah, I mean, I've honestly just had so many
01:15distractions away from the court, like that's just like minimal right now, so,
01:22you know, just going through life's challenges and coping with it and, yeah.
01:31Brian. Hi Danielle, Brian Mone, Associated Press. It looked like there was someone out there
01:38trying to give you a bouquet of flowers maybe. I don't know if they did
01:42something yesterday for Dominic Thiem and Schwartzman. If they lost, was there a
01:44discussion about doing that with you when you just weren't ready for that yet?
01:47Yeah, I'm still in the doubles and I had requested not to have any
01:53presentation on the court. I'm not somebody that, like, likes to
01:58celebrate my accomplishments and I've struggled with feeling guilt, you know,
02:04around success and that's something I've had to work on, so I'm not great
02:09honestly at, like, having like an all-about-me moment. I just, yeah, I would
02:17prefer to do something like that maybe in private, you know, but I feel like I've
02:24gotten enough attention to last a lifetime and I just, yeah, I mean, I was
02:33kind of thinking of that movie, I think it was Meet the Parents or Meet the
02:37Fockers, where, you know, Gaylord has a shrine and all his, like, 18th-place medals
02:42and I don't want to be like Gaylord, so I think I'm good.
02:50Danielle Abel, I was from the Washington Post. Will you, sorry to ask about the
02:55emotional side of it kind of so soon after, I'm sure you haven't had time to
02:58process, but will you kind of put that off until after doubles and just say I'm
03:02focusing on how I feel, focusing on playing that match or did kind of some of
03:06that come to you at the end? You mean in the singles match or going into the
03:10doubles? At the end of the singles match, did you just think about how, like, wow
03:14that was my... I mean, I'm still playing the rest of the year, so, or at least
03:21that's the plan right now, you know, you never know with life's challenges and,
03:25you know, health stuff, so we'll see, but yeah, I was kind of just bummed I
03:32couldn't, you know, play some of my best tennis. I just was all over the place
03:38with my shots, you know, I feel like my timing was a bit off and stamina and this
03:43and that and, you know, it's to be expected. I went through a lot at
03:46Olympics with the heatstroke. I got really sick after, you know, I'm
03:51immunocompromised, so I felt like that kind of played a little bit of a role
03:55and I've just been really physically challenged the last couple weeks even
04:01just with, you know, even with the time off, you know, so yeah, I feel like I
04:10still haven't physically, like, completely recovered. I mean, obviously I've got
04:14myself back to where I'm not having pain with the injury too, but, you know, it's
04:21hard when you kind of have a lot of momentum going and then you have a
04:25sudden stop and some things that come up health-wise, so it's been, yeah,
04:31challenging.
04:32How much extra is it taking you to get on court just to get prepared to play a match and physically ready?
04:37Well, you know, that's the thing, you know, you can't overdo it to when you come back
04:41from an injury and you can't, you have to be careful over training and under
04:45training and trying to find the right amount and, you know, I had a stop
04:49practice a few times this week because of the injury and I was really, like,
04:53pleased that I didn't have pain today. That was a big step in the right
04:57direction. I know I got through a match last week, which was good, but I just kind
05:02of, yeah, I need to kind of build that strength back still. It's just, you
05:10know, you also, you think about it, like, during the match too when you do feel
05:13little things here and there, especially with abdominal injury. I mean, you're
05:18using your ab for everything, so yeah.
05:22Larry.
05:23Larry Brooks, New York Post. I was just curious, the Dominic team was talking yesterday about how
05:28you're looking so forward to having a normal life, an ordinary life. I know
05:33you're still playing, but I wonder if that's your mentality too, your
05:37psychology, that you're looking forward to embracing your post career.
05:42Yeah, I definitely am. I mean, obviously I've talked a lot about wanting to have
05:48children and starting a family and being excited about that and just kind of
05:54stepping away from being in the spotlight. You know, I like, you know, the
06:01idea of not traveling 40 weeks out of the year. I think that's kind of sounds
06:05good at this point in my career with all the travel that I've done, even though I
06:08have enjoyed it a lot. I just, yeah, I think a lot of us, you know, we dedicate
06:15our whole lives to it, to the sport, to the travel. You give up a lot of life
06:22experiences, other life experiences for your career. And, you know, it was a
06:28sacrifice, I think, that paid off and I am happy that I did it. But yeah, looking
06:33forward to other things that I'll get to be able to participate in, you know, that
06:38I haven't, so.
06:40Okay, last two, Dorsey and Willie.
06:43Hi, Danielle Dorsey from ESPN.com. You, of course, as you said, still have doubles.
06:49How do you think you kind of regroup for that at this point after kind of a tough
06:53day today? And then also, do you think you'll be able to enjoy that, having that
06:58kind of last experience here?
07:00Yeah, you know, Kara is a good friend, or has become a good friend of mine. And we've
07:06had a lot of fun out on the practice court, so it was kind of a no-brainer to,
07:11you know, get together for the, you know, the doubles and be able to play in my
07:18last slam with her. We haven't played before, but I feel like I'm in good hands.
07:24She's got some titles under her belt on the double side. So yeah, it'll be really
07:29interesting.
07:31Willie, last question.
07:32Willie Weinbaum from ESPN. Danielle, how would you describe the journey you've
07:36been on from the time you decided to retire, including playing so well that so
07:41many people said maybe she shouldn't retire?
07:45Yeah, I mean, I think everybody has been so encouraging. And, you know, it's a
07:50compliment that people want to see me play more. And, you know, I, but at the
07:57same, you know, at the same time, I'm just kind of ready for that next chapter.
08:02You know, the journey's been great. But yeah, sorry, I'm a little bit out of gas.
08:10I got a little tired.
08:12Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Danielle.