Transcript: Danielle Collins def. Robin Montgomery, 6-3, 6-1

Danielle Collins def. Robin Montgomery, 6-3, 6-1

Round of 32

MODERATOR: Congrats on the win tonight. Can you share your thoughts on the match?

DANIELLE COLLINS: I think it was pretty solid. Had a good mindset going into it and just continued working on the things that I’m working on and going after my shots. So it was pretty smooth sailing, I think because of that mindset.

MODERATOR: Take questions.

Q: Saw you on the practice court going down the line, practicing your down-the-line shots. Were you working on that and using that in the match? I think it worked out pretty good.

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I think sometimes like in practice it’s good to work on going to a more difficult target, and obviously the down-the-line shot is a more challenging shot to hit and to make than a cross-court, just with the length of the court and the height over the net. So I think it’s good to practice like going for a challenging shot versus going for like the easy shot. So I do try to like be mindful in practice of like, okay, how are different — how can I make the most of like the warmup and make it like challenging and also where I’m still like working on things. So it was something I was conscious of and working on during the warmup practice.

Q: When you talk about just how important it is for you to set the tone early at a tournament like that where you get off to a quick start and you sort of make your statement?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I mean, obviously you always want to go out and be able to do that, but it’s not always possible, and today it was, and I was hitting my shots really well. I think I was timing the ball well, and I think you just have to kind of stick to your process and the things that you’re working on and then just keep focusing on that.

Q: During the match I see you like you’re trying to cover the ball. You do like a routine. Is it that you’re trying to put more top spin on the ball when you go like that?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I mean, I think sometimes like a tendency if I make a mistake is typically where I didn’t have enough racquet head speed where I actually at the last second kind of slow it down a little bit too much and then the ball doesn’t have enough trajectory on it to actually make it go in the court. So I have to try to get more racquet head speed to be able to make those shots. So I’m just conscious of that and then focus on getting the racquet head speed when it’s time to play the next point.

Q: What about Quincy?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Quincy is getting some dinner right now. Yeah. He’s been very spoiled here. The food this week has been phenomenal, and people have been so nice in the dining area, making him smoked salmon and fish and chicken and like all the things that he loves to eat. So it’s been funny, when I’m back at the hotel and I try to give him his regular food, he’s kind of looking at me like, well, what can I negotiate here, you know? (Laughs).

Q: How old is he?

DANIELLE COLLINS: He’s five.

Q: He’s got a long way to go. He’s so well behaved during the match and not trying to chase the balls. Is that something you worked on with him?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I mean, he goes to all practices, like when I’m at home. So he’s just kind of gotten used to like sitting on the side of the court. But we laugh sometimes because usually, like 99 percent of the time he’s like really good. He knows when we’re at a tennis court, okay, he’s going to be on the side of the court and kind of watching and then he can like come up to us and like lick our faces and do whatever he wants once we’re sitting down, but every once in a while when we go to a new court, he’s like a fish out of water and he doesn’t differentiate between like different courts all the time. So sometimes like the first day he’s at a new place he’s kind of like, okay, where are we, like I see you’re playing tennis, but I don’t know where we are, can I like do whatever I want. It’s kind of funny how sometimes he doesn’t differentiate between the courts, but I think with age, too, it’s like they mellow the older they get. When he was a puppy, I would basically always have to have somebody sitting with him, keeping him company and, okay, let’s focus and sit over here. He’s gotten so much practice just going to the practices at home, I can really trust that he’s always going to be on his best behavior at the courts. He loves coming to the courts. If I leave him behind, like at the hotel or at my house, it’s like, it’s — it makes me more sad, honestly, than it makes him. And he really likes going places. He’s just a well-behaved dog. I’ve been really lucky with that.

Q: So I guess this was your first match on clay with the electronic line calling.

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah.

Q: What was your reaction? And it definitely speeds up play, I guess.

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. You know, I think the electronic line calling can be a good thing. I mean, also, too, like I’m not always convinced that the electronic line calling is always accurate. I mean, it’s a robot, right? Like there’s going to be technical difficulties. Like I’ve had other matches where we’ve had the electronic line calls and it’s very clear, like on both sides, that there’s some like shady calls, on both sides. And so sometimes it messes up, I think, for sure. So, you know, I do appreciate, too, having lines judges and the opportunity that gives people to have jobs, because I think right now there’s a lot of jobs being taken away because of electronics. So that’s a scary thing. That’s a scary concept that we’re dealing with in our lifetime. So I kind of like having the lines judges for that purpose, and the tradition of having them. But I also understand how the electronic line calls can kind of speed up play.

Q: Having won this last year, coming out of this match today, do you compare kind of what you did in your first match last year to this year or is it something where you just forget about last year and you’re just focused on every match as it comes?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I mean, it’s definitely special getting to come back, you know, and having lifted the trophy here last year and winning the doubles the year before. But like all of us as athletes, like we’re so process oriented and just kind of focusing on what we can do next and what’s ahead of us. We’re not really thinking about the past too, too much. I mean, I guess at least that’s for me. I feel like it’s really exciting, I can definitely — you know, whatever happens, too, it’s like, well, I’ve already won the tournament. So I feel like I can actually go out and play more freely and more aggressively because it would just be a bonus to win it twice. It would be really hard to win it twice. So I just look at it as like a bonus.

Q: If it was possible to have Quincy on the road almost the entire tour, would you, if that was something?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Oh, 100 percent.

Q: If there was anything they could make more logistically possible. I know there’s different countries with different rules. How good would that be for your enjoyment knowing how well you’ve done at the tournaments competitively, how well you’ve done when he’s there?

DANIELLE COLLINS: Yeah. I think the tour, like I’ve said and other players have touched on, there’s so many highs and lows with the travel that we do, it’s a very abnormal lifestyle, for sure. And it’s hard to really ever get used to it: The time zones, different foods, different cultures, right, and always having to make adjustments week after week, and I think the more normalcy you can have in your life, the better for people’s mental health and well-being. I wish that we could kind of play in places more consistently and be able to have the luxury of having our pets on the road or be in one place for more than a week so that maybe family and friends can make it out with their work schedule. I think our lifestyle, we’re very fortunate that we get to live out our childhood dreams, but there are a lot of challenges that come along with this, of course. But, yeah, I would definitely feel a lot better if I could have my dog with me all the time. I get more separation anxiety than he does, for sure. And, yeah, we would have to maybe push the tours, too, to maybe — I know they were doing a lot of childcare, talking about the childcare and helping with the players that have babies, but might have to request maybe they put together like a doggy daycare, you know, for the pets of the tour.

Q: Have you ever heard of Martina’s Puppy Park?

DANIELLE COLLINS: No.

Q. They used to have it here.

DANIELLE COLLINS: Oh! That’s so nice!

Q: Puppy park for all the doggies!

DANIELLE COLLINS: Oh, that’s cute. Oh! That’s amazing!

End of Interview