Danielle Collins makes feelings known on dating difficulties as a successful woman playing pro tennis

Danielle Collins recently spoke up about the challenges women's tennis players such as herself face in sustaining romantic relationships while pursuing their careers. According to the American, one of the difficulties, particularly faced by successful WTA stars, is that their options become limited. Collins also highlighted how dating a professional tennis player requires "sacrifice".

The former WTA No. No. 7 and four-time career singles titlist who most notably finished as the runner-up at the 2022 Australian Open, featured as a special guest in a recently-released episode of the Nothing Major podcast, which is co-hosted by American former ATP stars John Isner, Jack Sock, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson.

During her appearance on the podcast, Danielle Collins opined that dating is much easier for successful men than it is for successful women. The American reasoned that when men become successful, they have more options, whereas for similarly successful women, the options reduce drastically due to men feeling intimidated by them. The 31-year-old said:

"I feel like when you're successful as a guy, the amount of people that flock to you is like infinite. You have a lot more options when you're successful as a guy, but as a woman, when you start to become more successful, it narrows down the dating pool by a lot. And I feel like men can feel intimidated sometimes by successful chicks. I don't know why that is, but, I feel that's definitely valid for me and a lot of my friends." (from 25:09)

"You really have to be with someone who's selfless" - Danielle Collins

Danielle Collins during a press conference at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Source: Getty)

In the same podcast episode, Danielle Collins went on to talk about the frequent travels that are part and parcel of a professional tennis player's life. According to her, these travel requirements make it incredibly challenging for a women's tennis star to sustain a romantic relationship with someone who doesn't understand the realities of the sport. She added:

"I think it takes a special person to date a professional tennis player, male or female, just because we travel so much and our lives revolve around our careers. Every aspect, from when we go to bed to what we eat, training, all of the logistics that go into it. So, you really have to be with someone who's selfless in that way and understanding that we have a short window to accomplish what we want to accomplish."

The American, currently ranked World No. 64, concluded by saying:

"It takes a really big sacrifice from people that any of us date."

Collins herself is on the lookout for a romantic partner after her relationship with Bryan Kipp, the Senior Vice President of American biotech firm Revvity, ended earlier this year.