Transcript: Danielle Collins def. Jelena Ostapenko, 7-5, 6-3

Danielle Collins def. Jelena Ostapenko, 7-5, 6-3

Round of 16

MODERATOR: Congratulations, Danielle. Can you share your thoughts on your win today?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. Hot conditions here today. Two aggressive game styles matching up against each other, and I think both of us were doing a lot of great things out there, and I just had to kind of figure out how to counter some of her, you know, winners and shots that she was going after and do the best that I could to stay ahead in the point.

I noticed from the beginning that you put the towel around yourself. You were managing the heat from the start of the match?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I mean, it’s hot conditions, so it’s all preventative and just making sure that the body cools down. I think there’s a lot of science behind when your body gets to a certain temperature, your performance decreases pretty significantly. So being mindful of that, that’s something that I strategically do during the matches when it’s really hot to kind of keep my body cool, and I think it’s better for my recovery as well.

Congratulations on the win. Just talk about those kind of tests where maybe you find yourself in a little trouble early, but you’re able to problem solve.

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I think I was down 4-2, and then I was also down 5-4 with her serving, and I think, you know, sometimes when someone is coming up with really good shots, there’s not a lot that you can do. And I think I was executing my strategy, like trying to play the right game style, I think sometimes just missing balls by like this much or having an opportunity to win a game and not converting. So at 4-2 it felt closer than what the score was, and I knew that if I just made another shot or got another look at the shot that I was going after and made it by this much, then it’s a different outcome. So I kept thinking about that. And then as I kept playing, I just started feeling my shots more and more, and then I think I channeled some of that frustration really well, and it motivated me to kind of push through and keep going after the shots. So I was really happy with how I was able to kind of deal with that adversity and be able to get through those tough moments, because it’s a hard player, you know, to have to be down against, and obviously not ideal going down 4-2 in the first set and 5-4 her serving for it. So, yeah, had to make a little bit of adjustments with the targets, but I thought overall it was pretty good from a strategic standpoint.

And she was pretty complimentary about your personality yesterday, and she’s pretty original herself. I just wanted to get your thoughts on how you see her.

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I think we have very similar game styles and similar things that we do at times on court, similar competitive spirits.
And that’s the thing, I think, when you’re doing this for a living, you know, you understand what we all go through. We understand the challenges that come day to day and the pressure and what’s on the line. We’ve all been working for this since we were little girls and have dreamt of living out our dreams, so we’re here now. But we play in a high-pressure environment, and I think all of us do a pretty good job of understanding each other and respecting that, you know.

Kind of rolling off that a little bit, but yesterday, I think it was yesterday, you said that it’s not as much pressure because you’ve won this thing before; this is almost like the gravy. But when you get on court and you’re in a tough match, is that pressure there or do you still think about the fact that, oh, yeah, I’ve won this whole thing before?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I think my mentality is a little bit different for this event because I do honestly kind of feel like, you know, I’ve won the event. So if I won it twice, I would be either really good or lucky, you know. So I feel like it would just be a bonus to be able to lift the trophy twice, and so I think that’s kind of encouraged me with my game to just go after it even more and give it my best shot.

When the order of play came out yesterday and this match came up, I think everyone was talking about it, the excitement of it. Do you ever pay attention to that sort of entertainment value? Do you love playing matches like that where everyone is really excited for the match itself?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I mean, I think that’s — at the end of the day, yes, we’re athletes, but we’re also entertainers, and so I appreciate like, you know, the excitement everybody had going into this about the matchup, and I think it’s really good for tennis and our sport when we can have these exciting matchups against each other. Yeah, I love being a part of it, and I love being a part of that conversation. As much as I am an athlete, I am an entertainer, and it’s my job to keep conversation going, and I certainly do that with my tennis and some of the stuff I do on court. So I’ve done a good job at that, I can say, in my career is getting the conversation going. (Laughs).

In the second set it seemed like you were going on the return of serve more down the line, you were hitting some winners down the line.

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah.

Did you make that switch from the first set to the second set?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I think anytime you’re playing against a good player — and Jelena has won a lot of tournaments. She’s a Grand Slam champion, and she’s got quite the skill set. So just keeping people guessing and not becoming too predictable, mixing your patterns, mixing your targets on every shot just to keep them kind of guessing. So that definitely was a strategy.

End of Interview