Australian Open tennis star Danielle Collins faced brutal booing from the crowd after her 7-6 4-6 6-2 victory over Destanee Aiava on Thursday.
The boos went up dramatically in volume after she trolled spectators for picking up a ‘big fat paycheck’ in her on-court interview at Kia Arena, with Collins later hitting out at ‘drunk’ fans in her post-match press conference.
American player Collins, seeded 10th in the women’s singles at Melbourne Park, became the villain against Australian world No.195 Aiava, with her underdog opponent enjoying passionate support from the home crowd.
After she was booed for wrapping up the win – and eliminating the last Australian player left standing in the women’s singles – Collins began to blow kisses towards booing fans before being handed the microphone.
‘You know I was thinking during the match, hmm, if I’m out here I may as well take that big fat paycheck,’ Collins said to the jeering Aussie crowd.
‘CoCo [Vandeweghe] and I, we love a good five-star vacation so part of that paycheck is going towards that. So thank you guys!’
Collins continued to face boos from the crowd but then signed off by adding: ‘Thank you guys, love ya.’
The Australian Open compared Collins’ celebration on match point to ‘prime Hulk Hogan’ on their social media channels.
In her post-match press conference, meanwhile, Collins added: ‘I think they really wanted for her to win badly. I think there were a lot of people that were super drunk and had a hard time controlling themselves and were really excited.
‘All I have to say is good luck trying to get under the skin of somebody that really doesn’t care.
‘I loved it. I’ve been doing this my whole life. I love playing in a crowd that has energy, regardless of what side they’re on.
‘I’m somebody, too, it kind of just motivates me even more. So it’s kind of a good thing, especially when I’m not playing that well.
‘I’m going to be out here for two-and-a-half hours, putting up with all these people, I might as well just take the bigger paycheck, right? I was super happy to do that.’