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Danielle Collins postpones tennis retirement plans, will play WTA Tour 2025

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Danielle Collins postpones tennis retirement plans, will play WTA Tour 2025

World No. 9 Danielle Collins has postponed her plan to retire from tennis at the end of the 2024 season, and will play on the WTA Tour in 2025.

Collins, 30, has taken advice on her “personal fertility journey” since her last match, which was a defeat to Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico. The American, who planned her retirement around starting a family while managing her endometriosis, which can impact fertility, said in a statement posted on Instagram: “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.

“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,” she said.

After reaching the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she retired with an abdominal injury against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, Collins lost four consecutive matches in her comeback. After a surprise reverse to compatriot Caroline Dolehide at the U.S. Open, Collins said in a news conference that her life away from tennis was impinging on her ability to execute on court.

“I have honestly just had so many distractions away from the court,” she said. “Just going through life’s challenges and coping with it.”

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Up until that rough summer, Collins had played one of the best seasons of her career, returning to the WTA top 10 and winning 15 matches in a row between March and May, which brought titles at the Miami and Charleston Opens. But that too brought struggle, as she repeatedly fended off questions about why she would retire when she was playing so well.

“I’ve loved what I’ve done and the opportunity and the doors it’s opened, but it’s not easy, and I am a homebody,” she told The Athletic in Miami in March, before she won that title against then-world No. 4 Elena Rybakina.

For now, she’s back to tennis. Collins is currently in the U.S. squad for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, which will take place from November 13 – 20.

GO DEEPER

Danielle Collins is on fire. She’s quitting tennis at the end of the year anyway.

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Analysis: How will Collins manage her unexpected return?

Analysis from tennis writer Charlie Eccleshare

For those present at what appeared to be Collins’ final news conference at a Grand Slam, back at the U.S. Open in August, this news comes as a big surprise. Back then, Collins was exhausted, feeling unwell and looking fully ready to say farewell to professional tennis. She finished by tailing off and saying: “Yeah, sorry, I’m a little bit out of gas. I got a little tired.”

A U-turn at that point seemed unlikely, but here we are, and Collins’ approach and results next year will be fascinating. Her excellent form in the early part of 2024 seemed to be inspired in part by the liberation of knowing that she wouldn’t be doing this for much longer. Next year will she be reenergised by doing something she thought was going to be in her past, or might she struggle for motivation having already made peace with retirement?

The most important thing is the “fertility journey” that Collins referenced in her social media post. A challenge that so many women face, Collins’ openness will inspire a lot of people, and everyone in tennis and beyond will be hoping that she can can stay healthy and find the motivation and energy that left her on that sad Tuesday in New York earlier this year.

(Top photo: Shi Tang / Getty Images)

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Try This Quiz on Thrilling Books That Became Popular Movies

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Try This Quiz on Thrilling Books That Became Popular Movies

Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about printed works that have gone on to find new life as movies, television shows, theatrical productions and more. This week’s challenge highlights thrillers first published as novels (or graphic novels) that were adapted into popular films. Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for links to the books and their screen versions.

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Test Your Knowledge of the Authors and Events That Helped Shape the United States

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Test Your Knowledge of the Authors and Events That Helped Shape the United States

Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s regular quiz about books, authors and literary culture. In honor of Gen. George Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22, this week’s super-size challenge is focused on the literature and history related to the American Revolution. In the 10 multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to exhibits, books and other materials related to this intense chapter in the country’s story, including an award-winning biography of the general and first U.S. president.

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Video: How Much Do You Know About Romance Books?

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Video: How Much Do You Know About Romance Books?

Let’s play romance roulette. No genre has dominated the books world in the last few years. Like romance, it accounts for the biggest percentage of book sales, their avid fan bases. Everyone has been talking about romance as a Book Review editor and as a fan of the genre myself, I put together a to z glossary of 101 terms that you should know if you want to understand the world of romance are cinnamon roll. You may think a cinnamon roll is a delicious breakfast treat, but in a romance novel, this refers to a typically male character who is so sweet and tender and precious that you just want to protect him and his beautiful heart from the world. Ooh, a rake. This is basically the Playboy of historical romance. He defies societal rules. He drinks, he gambles. He’s out on the town all night and is a very prolific lover with a bit of a reputation as a ladies’ man. FEI these are super strong, super sexy, super powerful, immortal, fairy like creatures. One of my favorite discoveries in terms that I learned was stern brunch daddy. A lot of daddy’s usually a male love interest who seems very intimidating and alpha, but then turns out to be a total softie who just wants to make his love interest brunch. I think there’s a misconception that because these books can follow these typical patterns, that they can be predictable and boring. But I think what makes a really great romance novel is the way that these writers use the tropes in interesting ways, or subvert them. If you can think of it, there’s probably a romance novel about it. Oops, there’s only one bed. This is one of my personal favorite tropes is a twist on forced proximity. Characters find themselves in very close quarters, where inevitably sparks start to fly. Why choose is the porkulus dose of the romance world. Sometimes the best way to resolve a love triangle is by turning it into a circle, where everyone is invited to play. Oops, we lost one spice level. There’s a really wide spectrum. You can range from really low heat or no spice, what might also be called kisses. Only then you start to get into what we call closed door or fade to Black. These books go right up to the moment of intimacy, and then you get into what we call open door, which is more explicit. And sometimes these can get very high heat or spicy and even start verging into kink. There’s one thing that almost every romance novel has in common. It’s that no matter what the characters get up to in the end, it ends with a happily ever after. I say almost every romance novel. Sometimes you’re just happy for now.

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