Tennis Star Danielle Collins Opens Up About Retiring To Become A Mom (2024)

So far, 2024 has been the best year of Danielle Collins' career. She won both the Miami Open and Charleston Open and is ranked No. 11 in the world.

Despite her success, she's stepping away from tennis at the end of the year. After being diagnosed with endometriosis, the tennis star wants to focus on starting a family after retirement.

Now, the 30-year-old is ready to take on the competition at Wimbledon. She wrote an essay for the BBC that it’s “really important to end on a positive note.”

So far, she’s been living up to that mantra, becoming one of the last American women to make it to the round of 16.

Last month, Danielle posted a celebratory picture from the French Open to Instagram. In her caption she expressed how excited she was to "finally" get a break to relax after participating in tournaments the past six months.

"In the beginning of the season it was a goal of mine to qualify for the Olympics 🇺🇸🎾 It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. I am very proud of my success over the last six months," she wrote.

While she's had an unbelievable year on the court, Danielle admitted that she began "crying daily" because of conversations with the media surrounding her health journey.

"Being asked over and over again to justify my success, and constantly being questioned about retiring and wanting to start a family have been really draining," she continued.

With her hectic schedule, Danielle hasn't had time to do activities she enjoys away from the courts. However, she is thankful for the support she's received from her close friends, fans, and her "incredible boyfriend," Bryan.

So, who is the man dating one of the best tennis players in the world? Ahead, everything to know about Danielle's boyfriend, Bryan Kipp.

Bryan is a former college athlete.

Bryan is a former football player at Columbia University in New York. He played in eight games as a defensive lineman and graduated with an industrial engineering degree, per the Columbia Lions website.

He’s a VP at a biotech company.

Currently, Bryan is the Vice President at a biotech firm Revvity, a company that "provides health science solutions, technologies, expertise and services that deliver complete workflows from discovery to development, and diagnosis to cure," according to his Linkedin profile.

They met at a London coffee shop.

Following a loss at Wimbledon, Bryan and Danielle met at a coffee shop in London, per Tennis.com. The two talked about their backgrounds, where the tennis star found out he was a former athlete himself.

"I didn't think I would meet someone at a coffee shop. Who would have thought? Just after the tournament, Wimbledon," she told the outlet.

He “didn’t know anything about tennis” before Danielle.

When they first met, Danielle found out that Bryan didn't know "anything about tennis."

"He didn't know I was a tennis player, which was really nice. He was actually a bigger fan of golf, and so he said, 'Well I really like golf. I don't really know much about tennis,' she told Tennis.com. "I was like, 'Yes! That's so exciting.'"

"It's fun to kind of be around someone that has interests in other things and that's not as familiar with the sport," she added, "Because you get to learn and grow with them and help them."

Danielle hopes that she and Bryan will play doubles in the future. Currently, the couple loves to play gold in their free time.

“We haven’t had a lot of time on the court for me to teach him,” she told Tennis.com. “We’re doing golf, and he’s at my matches and working.”

Since he wasn't too knowledgeable about tennis, "I explained to him that this is a big deal in the tennis world, so hopefully that doesn't tear us apart," Danielle added.

She’s the “jock” in their relationship.

Despite Bryan's background in football, Danielle joked to Tennis.com that she’s “more of the jock in the relationship” with her S.O. “He’s definitely more of the cerebral one,” she added.

The Florida native shared that she’s planning to get golf lessons because she doesn’t want to lose to her boyfriend. "He has gotten me on the golf course, and I'm so competitive," she said. "I hate losing to this guy. Love him to death but hate losing to him. He is very competitive."

He’s a member of her “special team.”

After defeating touch competitors at the Charleston Open, Danielle shared how appreciative she was of Bryan's support during her speech at the trophy ceremony and thanked him for bringing "a big smile" to her face.

"Thank you to my special team over there. Bryan, you had a crazy work week, and you got here just in the nick of time, and have been here the last couple of days supporting me, and always helping and bringing such a big smile to my face," she said in her speech.

Following the speech, Bryan and Danielle's dog, Quincy joined her on the court and posed for a picture with the Charleston Open trophy.

She wants to be a mom.

Danielle and Bryan could be expanding their circle soon, as Danielle has been open about wanting to become a mom after retirement. “Being a mom is one of my biggest dreams outside of the court,” she told Good Morning America in April. "When people ask about retirement. I'm like, 'This is not something that I can really wait much longer... I'm going to be 31 at the end of the year, so I feel like it's time.'"

In her BBC personal essay, Danielle shared that it’s not easy to be a tennis pro when you’re trying to start a family.

“Being able to have a family is challenging as a woman when your career depends on your body,” she wrote. “It would be especially difficult to think about playing tennis while pregnant.”

Although fans are eager to see her continue playing after her banner season, Danielle hopes people can still cheer her on in retirement.

“People want to see me play more great tennis, and I have a lot of fans that would like to continue to see me doing well,” she told Good Morning America. “I've been really open about my journey and my struggles... Everyone's so supportive, but at the same time, I'd like to be able to have the support in my decision in this next chapter.”