Collins might have taken a lesson from the blowback that ensued. Instead she doubled down following her ensuing match, a loss to eventual champion Madison Keys. Booed as she walked to court, she was also goaded in social media and at the tournament by the likes of Jimmy Connors, and even Novak Djokovic. Neither helped her cause with the Aussie crowd.
Connors responded to her initial diatribe in his podcast, saying: “I am a fan of hers (Collins). She has her own personality (who else’s could she have?). . . do you know what I like best? She is not apologizing to anybody, I love that.”
Great. People who apologize for their actions are just losers, right?
Collins cast a wide net of disparagement. It caught a number of people, including Tony Jones, the veteran Australian Channel 9 broadcaster who dared call her a “brat.” Djokovic added fuel to the fire. His reaction to the incident:
“I heard some comments of people that she shouldn’t have said that or that. I think she (Collins) handled it really well. I don’t think I would be that polite, and I know exactly the feeling. So I think she was funny, smart, and (I’m) just big fan of what she did. Big fan.”
