Danielle Collins has both taken heat and been majorly applauded for her decision to retire “on her own terms”. She’s 30 and has had a career-best run the last 6 months since she announced she’ll retire at the end of the season.

It’s hard to say whether the announcement itself released the pressure valve or if she really needed this much time to develop into a top ten WTA player (she’s currently ranked 9th). She is certainly a tour favorite although there were very loud ‘Iga’ chants throughout the match, even while Collins admirably broke her at the end of the second set to win it.

Next month, Collins will have a chance to play in front of a home crowd in her final major at the U.S. Open. If you’re an American tennis fan, I recommend bringing tissues.

Collins was unfortunately forced to retire just before the match was about to come to a natural end, as she trailed 1-4 in the final set.

Meanwhile Polish superstar Iga Swiatek moves on to the semifinal against China’s Zheng Qinwen who rallied to beat three-time major winner Angelique Kerber, who is also retiring at the end of this year. Collins’ reasoning for retirement included wanting to start a family, something Kerber accomplished last year when she gave birth to her daughter. Zheng will have her hands full in the next round as her win over Kerber lasted over three hours, which is extremely long for a three-setter.