US Open star retiring at 30 opens door for return to tennis | Tennis | Sport

Danielle Collins is preparing for her last Grand Slam tournament. And it will be her home Slam, the US Open.

Earlier this year, the world number 11 announced that this would be her last tour before retiring, and since then she has enjoyed a season that is the best of her career so far.

Collins has been honest about the health issues that influenced her decision to retire at age 30, but she has now opened the door to a possible return to tennis at a later date.

The US Open will not be the last tournament of Collins’ career – the four-time title winner had previously stated that she still had some goals she wanted to achieve by the end of the year. But it is her last chance at Grand Slam glory after finishing runner-up at the 2022 Australian Open.

With her retirement now just months away, the 30-year-old has been reflecting ahead of her final US Open appearance – and she admitted she might be tempted to get back into the sport as a coach.

“The most important thing for me now is to get used to life at home again and have time to just relax and build my family,” she told the Guardian. “But I certainly wouldn’t mind helping athletes who are striving to get to the top.”

However, Collins will probably not return to the professional tour with a top player, but would rather work with young talent. The American continued: “To be honest, if I could work with a tennis player at any level, I would prefer to go on the court with beginners. I am surprisingly a very patient person.”

“If you watch me play tennis professionally, you wouldn’t know it, but I’m really good at coaching beginners. It will be interesting to see what I end up doing, but in the short term I’m just going to enjoy tennis for what it is, not as a job.”

Right now, Collins is focused on the US Open and ending her career with a bang. Her decision to retire has been questioned a lot, especially given her great results this year – her biggest title came at the Miami Open in March, followed by victory in Charleston a few days later.