Collins begins pursuit of Master's Degree

Danielle Collins' US Open campaign begins on Monday afternoon against No. 14-seeded Anett Kontaveit, but like many others, she's already been in New York for a few weeks.

"It's been pretty good," she tells Baseline. "My boyfriend's here, my hitting partner's here, my dog (Quincy) is here. Would I love to go out and shop in the middle of the day or what I love to go check out an art museum or do something cool in a city? Yes. But at the same time, I've honestly just been so busy preparing."

Last Sunday, Collins lost her Western & Southern Open first round to a red-hot Jil Teichmann. It's given her time to prepare for the second major of the year.

"In the days leading up to [the US Open], it's been nice to go in, practice, do my fitness, do my recovery," Collins says. "And then at the end of the day, I only really have time to like eat dinner and then just wind down."

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She has also spent the time between New York events applying for Maser's programs. The University of Virginia grad is looking to get a Master's Degree in sports management.

"Time flies when you're like cranking out application essays and doing that kind of stuff," the 26-year-old says. "I feel like it's been a good distraction, so I've been busy. There have been some times where I've been getting bored and it's a little bit different than my personality. I'm pretty free spirited and I don't like to be caged in, but I'm staying wild in my own way."

She's seeking the degree online from the University of Florida, which is actually where her college career started. The world No. 55 transferred after one year at Florida and went on to win two individual NCAA titles at Virginia. While it might look like her college career was flawless if you're just counting hardware, her journey was a roller coaster.

"It wasn't like I won every single match in college either," she says. "I had times where I wasn't even playing in the lineup. So I had to really work for it and work my way up. And I'm grateful for those experiences, because I think it makes you appreciate it playing at this level a little bit more than when you're really young and you just have a lot of success all at once."

University of Virginia

Going pro was a dream of hers since childhood, but it wasn't possible financially so instead she got to develop her game with four years of quality college competition.

"It wasn't going to be possible to have a professional career going from high school to the pros," she says. "My dad mows lawns for a living, and my mom is a preschool teacher. And I think that says enough. They do not have the budget to be able to pay for a professional tennis career, and that's OK."

Her path has certainly worked out so far. Since turning pro in 2016 she's made huge progress flying up the rankings, boosted by a Australian Open semifinal run in 2019 that led her to a career-high ranking of No. 23. She began her 2020 season with three Top-15 wins, over Elina Svitolina, Sofia Kenin and Belinda Bencic.

When players were left in shock at Indian Wells when the shutdown began, Collins couldn't play after the Australian Open due to an abdominal muscle tear.

"I'm excited to go back on the court and get competing again because eight months of training is a very long time," she says. "Just every day going through the same type of drills and the same type of practices and the same type of training. I love it and I'm really passionate about it, but I'm ready to mix it up."

She got court time at the UTR Pro Series event in West Palm Beach, the team event in Charleston and then a few matches for Orlando Storm in West Virginia, which ended abruptly after her dismissal for leaving the site.

With that all behind her, Collins is laser-focused on New York while staying busy with school and carefully plotting out the rest of her 2020 schedule, which will include Roland Garros.

"I just have to focus on what I have to do every day, and I just try to take it one day at a time," she says. "Because I think when you start paying attention to the rankings too much, and you start thinking about, oh, my job security, or what's going to happen if this happens or that happens? You can't really control that."