Danielle Collins Booted Out Of World Team Tennis, Says She Didn’t Know Rules

By Ricky Dimon

Danielle Collins has finally spoken, several days after getting booted out of the 2020 World Team Tennis event for violating quarantine protocols.

But let’s start from the beginning. Unlike in normal years when World Team Tennis is spread across various cities in the United States at different times of year, the 2020 installment is much different due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It is being held at a single location–at The Greenbrier Resort in the Allegheny Mountains of Sulphur Springs, West Virginia–and the whole season is being played out every day for a span of three weeks (July 12-Aug. 2).

With health at safety at the forefront of just about everything these days, player protocols for participation in WTT were understandably strict. One of those rules was that participants could at no point leave the Greenbrier “bubble.”

Collins, however, did leave. She travelled to Charlottesville, Va., where she was a star at the University of Virginia and won NCAA singles titles in 2014 and 2016. The WTA’s No. 51 player in the world also admitted to leaving the resort to take her dog to the vet.

As a result of her violation, Collins was banned from returning to World Team Tennis this summer.

“We have dismissed Danielle Collins (Orlando Storm) for the remainder of the 2020 World Team Tennis season after breaking our COVID-19 protocols and leaving The Greenbrier Resort and the state of West Virginia,” WTT CEO Carlos Silva stated. “The protocols have been put in place and communicated numerous times to protect the health and safety of our players, coaches and staff which are of utmost importance to WTT.”

Collins addressed the matter on Wednesday, saying there were no such rules in the waiver that she signed but also admitting that she didn’t “really know how that works.”

“There was a waiver that I signed that was specific to the safety protocols and practices that were to take place during World Team Tennis, and it didn’t have any mention of not leaving the hotel,” the 26-year-old explained. “I don’t really know how that works, if I wasn’t able to leave and there’s hundreds of guests staying at the hotel who weren’t with the group.

Collins also said that she informed World Team Tennis officials of her intentions for taking her dog to the vet and for going to Charlottesville.

“WTT staff were aware of that and didn’t say I couldn’t do that,” she insisted.

Whatever the case, life at World Team Tennis goes on without Collins. There is another week of regular-season action before the semifinals and the finals are held the weekend of Aug. 1-2. The Philadelphia Freedoms (7-1) currently top the standings ahead of the second-place Chicago Smash (6-2). Collins’ former team, Orlando, is in fourth and final playoff position at 4-4.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.