Danielle Collins certainly embraced her brief stint as the pantomime villain of Melbourne Park.

But after her entertaining Australian Open performance concluded on Saturday night, the fiery American couldn’t help but feel some of her tormentors might have taken the “banter” too seriously.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Danielle Collins booed off the court after Australian Open loss.

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Melbourne’s raucous crowd enjoyed the last laugh over Collins as she suffered a 6-4, 6-4 third-round exit at the hands of compatriot Madison Keys.

Booed from the moment she stepped foot on Rod Laver Arena, 10th seed Collins was stoic.

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

“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.”

Collins said she’s not sure if she will continue to get booed every year she comes back to Melbourne, but that fans need to see the “humour” she was trying to bring to the sport during and after her win over Australian Destanee Aiava.

“I guess that’s up to them, right?” Collins said when asked if she and the Australian Open crowd will ever make up.

“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.

“I don’t care what’s written about me. I don’t care what some guy living in his basement is writing on the internet.”

Collins became public enemy No.1 in Melbourne when she gleefully wound up a raucous home crowd following her hard-fought win over local hope Aiava on Thursday.

After winning, she cupped her hand to her ear and yelled “How about that?” before blowing kisses to the crowd and slapping her backside.

She further wound them all up in her on-court interview, and later thanked them for the “big fat pay cheque” that would go towards her next holiday.

No surprise then that the locals weren’t on her side for her reappearance.

Boos rained down on Collins when she entered the arena, drawing a wry smile from the 2022 finalist.

But the vitriol didn’t stop there, with heckling and cheers for Collins’ faults and errors as Keys claimed the first set.

“I kind of knew what it was going to be like going out there,” Keys, who next plays sixth seed Elena Rybakina, said.

“I think the crowd was pretty pro-me and not for Danielle. I think they made that pretty clear from the start.

“I was glad, I was happy with myself just staying focused on myself and playing some decent tennis.”

Collins went up 3-0 in the second set but Keys responded, breaking back to draw level at 3-3.

Someone in the crowd yelled out to Collins it was “time for a holiday” when she was down 0-40 at 3-3 in the next game.

Applause then greeted her double fault on break point before Collins took a medical timeout to get her left knee treated and strapped.

Keys saw out the match in professional fashion while Collins received a mix of boos and cheers as she departed.

Collins later 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.”