Danielle Collins Interview: Her Love for Doubles, Playing in an 80+ League, and Success at the Slams
This is a conversation with Danielle Collins from the 2023 Charleston Open where she and Desirae Krawczyk won the doubles title.
Danielle was a singles finalist in the 2022 Australian Open, a doubles semifinalist at Wimbledon that same year, and reached a career-high in singles of #7 in the world in 2022.
This episode is a little different because it’s the first time I’ve had a “singles player” on the show to discuss doubles.
Danielle and I discuss:
- Why Danielle is playing more doubles alongside her singles schedule, and how it helps her singles game.
- How playing in an 80+ doubles league as an 8-year-old helped her improve.
- Her 2022 Australian Open singles run compared to her doubles semifinal run at Wimbledon.
- Her experiences in college tennis where she played at Florida before transferring to Virginia (she won 2 NCAA singles titles there).
You will also learn why she loves the camaraderie in doubles, what she is working on, her favorite tournaments, a book recommendation, and how to make doubles more popular.
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Interview Notes from this Podcast
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- Follow Danielle: Instagram
- Related Podcast: Bob Moran Interview
- Her favorite things about singles and doubles
- For her, singles requires more individual problem-solving but doubles teamwork feels better and causes fewer ups and downs.
- Singles can be very rewarding, but she likes sharing the ups and downs with someone else.
- She feels like her proudest moments have come playing doubles, but it is hard to play every week with her singles schedule.
- Her thought process in singles vs. doubles
- At the start of her career, doubles was more stressful because she feared letting her partner down.
- Eventually, she learned she wasn’t going to let anyone down and that helped.
- She really thinks about each the same and wants to do her best, but doubles is a little more relaxed.
- How doubles has helped her singles
- For juniors, she wishes there was more emphasis on doubles because it helps with life skills, college tennis, and generally creates more memories.
- When she was eight, she played in an 80+ doubles league that helped her improve her volleys, transitions, variety, returning to spots, and the mental side of the game.
- Working on her transition game
- She wants to start coming to the net more because she can finish points faster and more efficiently.
- Her thoughts on college tennis and advice to her younger self
- When she went to the University of Florida as a freshman she didn’t play much because of experience, so she learned to be physically and mentally stronger.
- She was able to use those experiences at the University of Virginia to improve her game and also improve her shot selection.
- She believes young players should look for coaches that believe in/support them, allow them to pursue non-tennis things, and are aligned with their goals/expectations.
- She also understands that one’s intended major, family, and other circumstances play a role, and she believes a mentor can help with those decisions.
- Rapid Fire
- Dream Doubles Partner: Ons Jabeur or Zhang Shuai
- Book: Open by Andre Agassi or Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Bob Rotella
- Tournament: The 4 Slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open, & US Open), ATX Open, Miami Open
