US tennis star Danielle Collins reveals a cameraman tried to forcibly kiss her in early days on tour

Daily Mail​

20 hours ago

US tennis star Danielle Collins has spoken out about the shocking moment when a cameraman tried to forcibly kiss her after a match.
Collins, 31, joined the 'Reign with Josh Smith' podcast to reflect on a number of issues - from dealing with misogyny in the sport to her endometriosis diagnosis.
Among those discussions, Collins revealed all about the bizarre incident involving herself and a cameraman a few years ago and claimed she reached a 'boiling point'.
She explained: 'I had a situation a bunch of years ago when I first got on tour and I was dealing with a cameraman that was very persistent.
'And I remember I came off the court, I lost a long three set match, I'm kind of like cramping, I'm tired and all the things are happening. And this guy goes, 'oh, Danielle, you know, I'm so sorry. Can I give you a hug?'
'And I, I look at my coach, I'm like, 'uh, sure.' So I'm like, standing like this and he goes in to hug me and then all of a sudden he goes in to kiss me and I'm like, 'oh no, oh my gosh.'
'And he literally starts making out with a side of my face. So, yeah, people don't see that like behind the scenes.
'They don't hear the comments that sometimes people make towards you, they don't see the weird men that show up to our events and stalk us and follow us to our hotels. And so, yeah, sometimes you get to a boiling point.'
Meanwhile, Collins has previously come under fire for her feud with World No. 3 Iga Swiatek - who she recently fell to a defeat against at Wimbledon.
Collins had previously labelled Swiatek as 'fake' after they faced each other in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics.
Collins retired from the match in the third set because of an abdominal injury, and ripped Swiatek for being 'insincere' about her injury when they spoke on the court after the match, she said.
'There's a lot that happens on camera. And there are a lot of people with a ton of charisma ... (who) are one way on camera and another way in the locker room,' Collins told reporters after, via AP. 'I don't need the fakeness.'
It drew criticism from tennis fans and now Collins has opened up on the misogyny which she's faced due to her outspoken nature.
'When somebody says that, 'Danielle Collins is a b***h.' I kind of just take it as a compliment because so many of the women that I love and respect have been labeled as a 'b***h,' and they're a bada** woman. There are women that get s*** done.
'There are women that go after their dreams. There are women that are assertive, powerful, hardworking and they are people that I strive to be.
'So I feel like being a bitch can actually be kind of like a good thing because it also means you're not afraid to back down when someone's being a jerk.