‘I was villainised’: Danielle Collins reacts to controversial incident with Maria Sakkari at Canadian Open

The American was drawn into an argument with her Greek opponent during the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament

Danielle Collins speaks out about clash with Maria Sakkari at the Canadian Open (Getty Images)

Danielle Collins has spoken out about the controversial incident between herself and Maria Sakkari during the Canadian Open in Montreal.

The two players clashed in the second round of the tournament after Sakkari hit a ball into the crowd. During the second set of the match, Sakkari’s first serve was called a fault and through frustration she knocked a ball into the floor which then bounced off court and into the assembled crowd.

Collins, unhappy with Sakkari’s conduct, went to speak to the chair umpire before telling Sakkari to “shut her mouth” as a lengthy argument ensued.

The 29-year-old spoke has now spoken about the incident claiming she was villainised for saying something after Sakkari nearly hit someone in the crowd.

“She almost hit someone, and I got villainised for standing up for them," Collins said, “A couple months ago, I wouldn’t have done that. I would have been too worried about what other people are saying or thinking about me, or judging me,

"I feel like, so much of what Jared [Jacobs, her coach] has tried to help me with is being my authentic self, what’s important to me and my values, and not being so concerned about the things that I can’t control.

“I think that’s helped so much to put things into perspective, because it’s easy to drift away from that."

Collins went on to defeat Sakkari 6-4, 6-2 and later, Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open before Iga Swiatek defeated her 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.