What is Danielle Collins' Net Worth?
Danielle Collins is a professional tennis player who has a net worth of $5 million. Danielle Collins won WTA Tour singles titles at the 2021 Palermo International and the 2021 Silicon Valley Classic. Before this, she played collegiate tennis at the University of Virginia, where she twice won the NCAA singles title. Among her other accomplishments, Collins has won multiple ITF singles titles.
Early Life and Collegiate Career
Danielle Collins was born on December 13, 1993 in St. Petersburg, Florida to Cathy and Walter. As a teen, she went to Northeast High School, where she played junior tennis. Collins' ranking was high enough that she earned a scholarship to the University of Florida. Following her freshman year, she transferred to the University of Virginia; there, she won the NCAA singles title in both 2014 and 2016. In the latter year, Collins also won the Honda Sports Award as the best female tennis player in the country. She graduated from UVA with a degree in media studies and business. Collins subsequently returned to the University of Florida to obtain her master's degree in sports management.
Professional Career Beginnings
Collins went semi-professional in 2009, and played for the first time on the ITF Women's Circuit. She went on to win her first ITF singles title in 2011; three more would later follow. In 2014, Collins made her WTA Tour debut as a wildcard at the US Open. She finally turned fully professional midway through 2016.
Career Breakthroughs in 2018
Collins had her breakthrough year as a professional player in 2018. That year, she earned a wildcard at the WTA 125 tournament, and ended up claiming the title. Collins also earned a wildcard at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she won her first WTA Tour match against Taylor Townsend. She then beat Madison Keys and Sofya Zhuk, before falling in the fourth round to Carla Suárez Navarro. Despite the loss, Collins rose to world No. 93 in the WTA rankings. She went on to the Miami Open, where she beat Irina-Camelia Begu, CoCo Vandeweghe, Donna Vekić, and Monica Puig; in her greatest victory yet, she then beat former world No. 1 Venus Williams. Ultimately, Collins lost in the semifinals. Her successes during the season were good enough, however, to land her at world No. 36 by the end of the year.
Further Professional Career
Collins kept her success going in 2019. At the Australian Open, she upset 14th seed Julia Görges, and won her subsequent three matches in straight sets against Sachia Vickery, Caroline Garcia, and Angelique Kerber, respectively. After beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals, she fell to Petra Kvitová in the semis. Also in 2019, Collins posted wins at all the other Grand Slam events, and accomplished her best Grand Slam doubles result at Wimbledon by reaching the quarterfinals. She finished the year ranked No. 31 in the world. The following season started strong for Collins, as she beat three top-15 opponents: Elina Svitolina, Sofia Kenin, and Belinda Bencic. Later, after returning from the six-month WTA Tour shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open. There, Collins ultimately fell to Sofia Kenin.
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
During the first part of the 2021 season, Collins was sidelined due to severe back pain. Diagnosed with endometriosis, she underwent surgery to have a large cyst removed. Collins came back strong in July to win her first WTA Tour title at the Palermo International. She won her second WTA title the very next month at the Silicon Valley Classic, where she beat Daria Kasatkina; this was also Collins' first WTA 500 title. She extended her winning streak at the Canadian Open, defeating Jil Teichmann in the first round and Simona Halep in the second. However, Collins fell to Jessica Pegula in the third round. In 2022, at the Australian Open, Collins made it to her first Grand Slam final. Although she lost to world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty from Australia, Collins cracked the WTA top ten for the first time to become the American No. 1 female player.
Playing Style
Collins is known to have a playing style that is ferocious and combative. She exhibits a powerful serve, strong groundstrokes, and a versatile backhand, including a particularly effective double-handed backhand. Additionally, Collins has a strong kick serve and a high aptitude for volleying, resulting in remarkably fast hits against her opponents.
World TeamTennis
Beyond the WTA Tour, Collins has played with the mixed-gender professional league World TeamTennis. She had her debut season with the league in 2019, playing for Billie Jean King's Philadelphia Freedoms. In 2020, Collins began playing for the Orlando Storm, but was dismissed from the league for leaving the state and violating COVID-19 protocols.
