A vanquished Danielle Collins has revealed this season will be her last in professional tennis after falling short of pulling off another mighty Australian Open win over world No.1 Iga Swiatek.
Runner-up to Ash Barty at Melbourne Park in 2022, Collins looked like repeating her semi-final victory over Swiatek from two years ago when she raced to a 4-1 lead in the deciding set of their second-round showdown on Thursday.
But the top-seeded Pole dug deep to reel off the next five games and take the marathon match after three hours and 13 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
"I lost 6-4 in the third to one of the best players in the world, and she played some great tennis. Left it all on the court," Collins said after the 6-4 3-6 6-4 defeat.
Hankering to start a family, Collins offered no complaints and said losses don't hurt as much anymore.
"I'm kind of at the end of my career and they don't sting quite as much, to be honest," the 30-year-old one-time world No.7 said.
"I feel like I have kind of gotten to the point where obviously they matter and my career means a lot to me but, at the end of the day, you either win or you lose and that's all there is to it.
"This is going to be my last season, actually, competing. I don't really know exactly when, but this will be my last season and I'm really looking forward to that.
"I feel like I've had a pretty good career.
"There have certainly been ups and downs to it, and I think the travel and some of the things away from the court with scheduling and all of that, this is a really tough sport.
"I have other things that I'd kind of like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis, and would like to be able to have the time to be able to do that.
"Obviously having kids is a big priority for me."
