Danielle Collins has perfectly leveraged her Danimal spirit throughout the season, to enjoy a beautiful sunset of her career. However, not everything went as planned for the American tennis star, as a few hiccups became the highlight of her matches. The last one being at the Paris Olympics against the World No.2 Iga Swiatek, which blew up into a huge controversy as Swiatek was left dumbfounded on the clay court. But as the dust has settled down, Collins’s former coach, Jared Jacobs, has a few words to share about the incident.

Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rick Macci had said that “she(Collins) has the firepower,” to even deal a blow to the 4-time Roland Garros champion on her favored surface. However, while trying to walk Macci’s talk, Collins’s quarterfinal match was marred by a huge controversy. It started when Collins unintentionally hit Swiatek on the chest, as she returned the shot. What followed after that was a long break by the Pole as she headed to the restroom to regroup herself. This might have ticked Collins off, as momentum was on her side.

However, as Swiatek returned to the court, a few moments later Collins headed to the restroom, before abruptly leaving the match in the middle of the 3rd set. But it was the few words that Collins shared with Swiatek on the net while leaving the Pole dumbfounded and deep in thought. This ignited the controversy. Everyone thought about what Swiatek had done to upset the American tennis star after taking a hit from her. Fret not, we finally have an answer to the question, as Jacobs shares the probable cause.

To understand the three-setter in short. Swiatek made an aggressive start to the game by claiming the first set with 6-1. Collins had to dig deep in the second set to keep her chances alive with 2-6. However, in the deciding set, Swiatek drove the momentum in her favor with 4-1, and Collins left the court because of injury. Collins was upset, as this was her last attempt at the Olympic medal. While her ex-coach was unable to pinpoint the exact cause, she took a guess at it, having coached the player and knowing her behavior.

In an interview with  Sport.pl, a Polish news website, he said, “It’s hard for me to say exactly why Danielle was so upset. About the loss? Maybe she was embarrassed to come off the big court in the quarterfinals of the Games with an injury?”– remarked Jacobs on her exit from the quarterfinals. Though this is pure “guess” on his part, but,” this story doesn’t surprise me at all.” He has not spoken to the American tennis player after they stopped working together, but their time back in the days certainly gave the coach a view into Collins’ tennis.

Collins’ on-court outbursts are nothing new. Her fiery temper has landed her in hot water multiple times. Back in 2023 at the Canadian Open, Collins was involved in a heated exchange with Maria Sakkari. She said “shut your mouth” to the latter. And this year, she had a run-in with camera operators in Madrid, after she gave them a sharp response, rebuked with, “back it up.” . This penchant for speaking her mind is a well-documented part of her personality, and her former coach offers insight into why she behaves this way.

The ex-coach contrasts the personalities of Swiatek and Collins

It’s not uncommon for tennis players to get involved in a controversy. Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev, among others, have thoroughly experienced the tough competitive spirit of the tennis court. However, when it comes to Collins, the American tennis star, sometimes might take things a bit further. Maybe this viewpoint of Jacobs about Collins might help the tennis community understand the reason behind the outbursts.

He said, “From what I know of Danielle, I know that sometimes she can be bothered by completely harmless things, and then she doesn’t think about anything else.” This is in contrast to the Pole, as she “is not the most outgoing person on the women’s tour, and I think she struggles with her own fears.”

Hence, the misunderstanding comes to the fore as “Danielle could interpret that as rude or insincere behavior.” Moreover, defending Swiatek, Jacobs said, “Nevertheless, Iga has always been a nice person. She certainly didn’t say anything to Danielle that should have bothered her.” 

However, as the US Open might be the last Slam of Collins’s career, she seems to be the hot favorite to win it. Could she get a winning end to her career?