The Danimal shuts down the heckler! Can you recall how many times have you heard this over the past few months? Danielle Collins is someone who is known for her fiery attitude on-court. It doesn’t matter if someone is on the other side of the net or in the stands. If you take her on, ‘Danimal‘ is surely gonna find you and get back at you. And, interestingly, the tennis world loves to see this version of the WTA star. There is just one call that has been running the most these days – ‘Never Change Danielle!”

Joining the list of fans of fiery ‘Danimal‘ is Jimmy Connors. On the ‘Advantage Connors Podcast‘ with his son Brett, he spoke about how unapologetic Danielle Collins has been for what she has been over these months on the court. Jimmy Connors looked absolutely impressed with the way she handled the hecklers in the stands in Madrid and Rome. Speaking on her animated rants with crowds at those two venues, Connors said, “I love that. I wouldn’t mind if she’d go up to the stands and grab one...“

He further went on to add, “Yeah but I love that. And she’s taking care of her business. She has found something over these last two, three, four months, whatever. And she’s riding that way. She’s earned the respect now.” The 71-year-old American tennis legend went on to say that he thinks Danielle Collins handles these things pretty well.

Even another American tennis legend, Andy Roddick is a big fan of the way Collins handles the criticism thrown her way and the unwanted pressure it brings. Roddick praised, “It’s like you don’t have to be a diehard tennis fan to understand her vibe, to understand that there’s like this primal aggression inside of this. You know, awesome – women just taking cuts and everything.“

It’s always fun to watch Danielle Collins in action but if you’re in the stadium, it’s better to maintain a distance from the ‘Danimal’ if you want to tease. Else, you may well be on her radar just like what happened with those rowdy fans in Madrid and Rome.

“You come out and you play” – Danielle Collins in super-aggressive mood in Madrid

During the second set of the R32 match against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian at the Madrid Open, Danielle Collins was spotted having a verbal altercation with a fan. According to the initial looks of the overall incident, it seemed that the fan was trying to disrupt her rhythm in the match. However, Collins ain’t one to sit back and let them do whatever they want when she’s on the court. She quickly jumped into action and yelled, “You come out and you play. Come out here and do what I do, okay? Have a little more respect.“

Although she later won the match by a 3-6,6-4,6-1 margin, she carried forward this aggression in her next tournament as well. At the Italian Open fans witnessed a series of entertainment during her match against Victoria Azarenka. Although Collins won the match comfortably by a 6-4,6-3 margin, she was caught up in having a mild exchange with the cameraman, whom she found to be too close to her bench. Then later on, when the fans started to make some noise seeing her miss her first serve, she shouted, “What? What??“

The ‘Danimal‘ didn’t look too impressed with the reactions from the crowd, so she was later seen showcasing some sarcastic gestures towards spectators. Later on, she even went on to blow a kiss towards them after securing the winning point of the match!