Heading to retirement, Danielle Collins makes a quick exit in final US Open singles appearance

NEW YORK (AP) — Danielle Collins was in no mood to stick around for a celebration.

So after being upset in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday for a disappointing ending to her final Grand Slam singles tournament, Collins took off quickly for the locker room.

Collins, the No. 11 seed who has announced her plans to retire after the season, lost to fellow American Caroline Dolehide 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. The U.S. Tennis Association appeared set to honor Collins, but she bolted, with U.S. Open tournament director Stacey Allaster following behind carrying a yellow bouquet of flowers.

“I just would prefer to do something like that maybe in private,” Collins said. “But I feel like I’ve gotten enough attention to last a lifetime.

“I was kind of thinking of that movie, I think it was ‘Meet the Parents’ or ‘Meet the Fockers,’ where Gaylord has a shrine and all his 18th-place medals. I don’t want to be like Gaylord, so I think I’m good.”

Dominic Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open men’s champion, and Diego Schwartzman, twice a quarterfinalist in Flushing Meadows, were honored after losing their final matches at the tournament on Monday. But Collins, who is still entered in doubles, said she had asked not to have a presentation on the court.

It has been a strong final season for Collins, who turns 31 in December. After announcing her plans at the Australian Open and saying she wanted to start a family, Collins earned her first WTA 1000 level title in Miami, then won again in Charleston and returned to the top 10. She played so well that she has been asked if she might reconsider her retirement plans.

But Collins has battled an abdominal injury since the Paris Olympics and had to pull out of hard-court warmup events at Toronto and Cincinnati.

That affected her preparation against Dolehide, an opponent she had defeated in five of their six meetings. Dolehide, who turns 26 next Thursday, earned her first career singles victory at the U.S. Open.

After a hug at the net, Collins was quickly gone. She’ll be back for doubles and doesn’t seem certain about anything after that.

“I mean, I’m still playing the rest of the year, or at least that’s the plan right now,” she said. “You never know with life’s challenges and health stuff. We’ll see.

“But yeah, I was kind of just bummed I couldn’t play some of my best tennis.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis