US tennis star Danielle Collins postpones retirement and will return to WTA Tour in 2025

(CNN) — Tennis world No. 9 Danielle Collins has postponed her retirement from the sport and will be back competing on the WTA Tour in 2025.

The American announced in January that she would be retiring at the end of the 2024 season due to a number of health issues, including rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis, and her desire to start a family.

However, Collins said on Thursday that while she was “very excited” to bring an end to her tennis career and move onto the next chapter, “things have not gone to plan.”

“In addition to managing some lingering health challenges the past few months, I’ve recently been seeing a handful of specialists to better understand what my best path forward is to achieve my ultimate dream, starting a family,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Dealing with endometriosis and fertility is a massive challenge for many women and something that I am actively traversing, but I am fully confident in the team I am working with. It is just going to take longer than I thought.

“So, the DANIMAL story has not reached its conclusion. I will be back on tour in 2025. While there are no guarantees in life, I hope to build on my 2024 momentum and keep playing until there is more certainty around my personal fertility journey. The only guarantee for now will be some more epic matches.”

Collins, 30, has played some of the best tennis of her career since her January announcement following a second-round loss to Iga Świątek at the Australian Open.

In back-to-back weeks at the end of March and start of April, Collins won the Miami Open – the first WTA 1000 title of her career – and the Charleston Open as she climbed back into the world’s top 10 after falling as low as No. 71 in February.

Collins has lost in the opening round of the three tournaments she has played since losing in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics, including her home US Open.

After a surprise first-round loss to fellow American Caroline Dolehide at Flushing Meadows, Collins quickly walked off the court as organizers were preparing a farewell ceremony and she later joked that she didn’t want to be like Ben Stiller’s ‘Meet the Parents’ character Gaylord ‘Greg’ Focker.

Collins last played at the Guadalajara Open in September but has been named in the USA’s United Cup team starting on December 27.

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