ROLAND GARROS

May 30, 2021

Danielle Collins

Press Conference

D. COLLINS/X. Wang

6-2, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Danielle, what pleased you most about your victory today?

DANIELLE COLLINS: You know, I think coming into this tournament, it's kind of different going into a tournament just after having surgery, and so having different goals, different expectations. And so it was kind of a different mindset today going on court, which I haven't really experienced as a professional tennis player. I experienced that a bit in college when I was dealing with some injuries.

I think before I went out on the court today I was just like, you know, I have to give it my best, and I have to know my strengths and I have to be aware of the things that might not be feeling great at certain points in time.

I was really pleased with how I felt. I felt really great the whole way through. I was a bit nervous, too, today going out since this was my first real match since surgery. I do still think sometimes I was a bit hesitant, but as the match continued to go on, I became more and more confident physically. And so yeah, it was just a really rewarding match.

Q. I hate to ask you to look past Roland Garros, but I want to ask you to look at Wimbledon. A couple years ago you got to the third round. You've had success on grass. How difficult do you think it's going to be for really every player, especially yourself, to go back to Wimbledon having had so little grass court play, and what are you looking forward to most looking at Wimbledon?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah, I mean, I haven't really thought too much about Wimbledon, just kind of getting prepared with the travel arrangements and all of that. But I think for me I'm a bit unique because I didn't play much grass court tennis, having not played like the junior slams and then obviously being from the States we don't have a ton of tournaments on grass.

You know, I think in the past I kind of felt a little bit uncomfortable in a way on the grass, and then it was finally -- well, I guess 2019 was my second main draw Wimbledon, and I finally after winning two matches there kind of felt really confident.

I think playing doubles with Bethanie helped, as well, just getting more match play on the grass. But I was really looking forward -- last year I was like, okay, I had a good 2019. I'd like to go back. It was unfortunate that it got canceled.

Yeah, I'm just looking forward to playing more matches on it because I felt pretty confident on it towards the end.

Q. You'd spoken very publicly this week about living with endometriosis. What challenges has that posed for you during the tour, how you've lived with that, and how important you think your positive mentality has been in being able to overcome those challenges on the court?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah, I think, as most women in the world who have our menstrual cycles, I think it's something that sometimes when we're dealing with these painful moments, we learn to accept it. And for me things started to become too abnormal and really unhealthy, and it was causing a lot of havoc for me around that time.

I also interestingly enough had some injuries pop up during that time, and so I think that maybe the endometriosis had something to do with that, just the hormonal like fluctuation.

It certainly presented its challenges, but it's been really kind of shocking, like since surgery I've just felt so much better, especially with my back pain. Like I'm not having any type of sciatic nerve pain, which I was dealing with for a couple of years.

That to me, I always thought it was more joint related. I consulted with my doctors and kind of had some misdiagnoses along the way. And so now I'm just kind of relieved to just be feeling good consistently and not having to always track and be like, Oh, like is this going to be a bad week, do I have to kind of prepare my training around that or my tournaments around that? It's just been a real weight that's been lifted off my shoulders since having the surgery because I kind of just in some ways got used to it and kind of thought that that was normal to be dealing with.

I didn't realize that I would feel this much better after surgery, so I'm really relieved.

Q. I'm curious just what does it feel like to return to Roland Garros? Obviously just nine months ago and a great result then. To come back now, what are the feelings and emotions? Also what was the preparation like with complications and all that? How do you feel like you have been training and preparing for this event and do you think that you're ready for another deep run?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah, building up to after surgery and then up to the tournament, it was a very gradual progression. I was very worried about overdoing it or doing too much too soon.

I think I definitely took my time and was very cautious, and so I think in the long run, that really benefited me because you definitely don't want to hurt yourself after undergoing surgery and all of that. Yeah, to answer your question, it was very gradual.

I do feel like it's a bit strange being back here like so soon. When we got to the hotel, I felt like, all right, like I felt like I was just here months ago. We're usually -- when it's a year, it feels like it's been a little bit of time. But yeah, I kind of was thinking, I was like, I wonder if my cell phone, if it'll remember the Wi-Fi because I was just there a couple months ago. It didn't. I got a new phone.

Yeah, I am trying to order the same types of foods and restaurants that I ordered from last year on the delivery services. Yeah, and it's a similar menu to last year, similar gym, similar setup. I feel like I'm kind of used to it.

Q. When we spoke to you a few months ago, you had just started some improvements on your home, but you had a big to-do list of things you still needed to do. I just wanted to check on how you're getting on with the home improvements.

DANIELLE COLLINS: I actually still have a lot on that list that hasn't been quite crossed off that is going to take a little bit more time. Some of those things I got done. I ended up remodeling my kitchen and my bathroom, so I was really excited about that. I love design and anything creative, so that was a really fun project for me last year, especially because we weren't traveling as much, like just being able to look forward to doing some home improvements. And it was my first time doing those types of things. I've never really been handy around the home.

I've been learning a lot. I was just watching a video last night about how to remove a countertop from the cabinet so when I get home I'm going to call my friend Maddy Brengle and I think we might try to do it ourselves. I'm sure she'll be pleased to hear that. We were like looking at backsplash and we were sending each other different things the other day.

Q. I think when you did the interview with "The Telegraph" about your surgery, one of the things that was mentioned was to destigmatize these things. I'm curious if you've heard from other women with similar issues and if that's been gratifying in the days since your interview came out.

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah, I've had a handful of different women that have reached out to me, friends, family, people that I don't know, that I've never met that have been affected by endometriosis. It's been kind of nice to have that sense of community because I think when you're living with these types of things, sometimes it can be very isolating because you feel alone and that you're dealing with these problems. Sometimes there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel. So if I can ever be a friend to somebody and share my experience, hopefully that can offer them some knowledge or information that maybe they didn't know before.

I was lucky to have a friend in my life that had endometriosis, and that helped me identify what I was dealing with.

Yeah, I think just being able to talk about it with other women is empowering.