Danielle Collins delivers final shot at Australia on promised ‘five-star vacay’

American tennis star Danielle Collins has delivered a final shot at Australia after heading out on the ‘five-star vacation’ she promised to enjoy during her run-in with local fans last month.

Collins became public enemy No.1 in Melbourne when she gleefully wound up the home crowd following her hard-fought win over Destanee Aiava in the second round of the Australian Open.

The 10th seed, runner-up to Ash Barty in 2022, was seething throughout as a parochial crowd in the Kia Arena cheered her errors and double faults — at one point yelling “shut up”.

After winning, she cupped her hand to her ear and yelled “How about that?”

She then blew kisses to the jeering and booing crowd, before slapping her backside, before further winding up the crowd in her on-court interview.

“Yeah, Destanee...” she began before stopping and taking the microphone from the presenter to resume speaking.

“I was thinking during the match, I was like, if I’m out here I may as well just take that big, fat pay cheque.

“Coco (Vandeweghe) and I love — we love — a good five-star vacation. Part of our cheque is going towards that. So thank you, guys, thanks for coming out and supporting us tonight. Thanks everyone! Thank you guys, love ya.”

And she didn’t wait long to cash in after naming the Bahamas her preferred destination.

Collins this week shared footage from a resort on the islands, compete with a final shot at Australia.

The video showed Collins soaking up the sun and included a clip of Collins playing pickleball — slapping her backside after a point just as she did in Melbourne.

Collins had embraced her role as pantomime villain at the Australian Open.

In her post-match press conference she made the point ticket sales would pay for her next holiday.

“One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is the people that don’t like you and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills. It’s kind of a cool concept,” she said.

“Obviously, my professional career is not going to last forever. So I just remind myself every day when I have that kind of stuff, they’re paying my bills.

“Every person that’s bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it’s all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund.

“Yeah, bring it on. I love it. Me and my group of girlfriends love a five-star vacation.

“I can guarantee you that cheque is going to go towards our next five-star trip, hopefully to the Bahamas.”

Collins did not go as deep as she would have hoped at the Australian Open after running into eventual champion Madison Keys in the third round.

Booed from the moment she stepped foot on Rod Laver Arena for that meeting, Collins was stoic.

“Yeah, I expected that (booing), obviously. That’s fine,” Collins said.

“I really do enjoy playing in these types of environments. It’s what you work so hard for your entire life as a kid. I embraced it.

“The biggest thing is that nobody got hurt.

“Maybe some feelings got hurt or things were taken personally, and they probably shouldn’t have been taken personally by the crowd.

“But, yeah, I feel like people take life way too seriously, sometimes.”

The Australian Open was the first bonus grand slam for Collins after she backflipped on her plan to retire at the end of last year.

She opted to continue playing amid ongoing fertility issues due to endometriosis.

Collins said the tournament had been great for her emotionally.

“Earlier in my career, I was more concerned about what people think. I was much more guarded about my personality because I know I can be fiery, and I know that can rub people the wrong way,” she said.

“I never want to hurt someone’s feelings or be disrespectful to someone that I’m competing against, especially the people I really respect.

“Maybe with age comes this attitude of, like, we’re going to be ourselves. I’m going to accept who I am, and I’m going to just go for it.

“I’m really proud of myself that I just have gotten to the point where I really don’t care anymore about what people who aren’t important to me think.”