Quote of the Day: Danielle Collins riding Wimbledon wave "until I can play on Centre Court"

Danielle Collins is back to her winning ways, fueled by securing a bucket list experience in her farewell Wimbledon.

On Saturday, Collins became the fourth American woman to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon in a top quarter that is anyone’s for the taking.

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A day after Coco Gauff, Madison Keys and Emma Navarro punched their tickets to the round of 16 at the bottom of the women's draw, the 11th seed joined her countrywomen with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 20 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

The 30-year-old began her day losing the first four games, before digging in to come through a contest that saw the pause button hit multiple times thanks to intermittent rain.

“It was a rewarding day for me. I've played many matches that have been stop-and-go throughout my career, and oftentimes I have not pulled out the wins in those situations,” Collins told press afterwards.

“I felt like I did a good job of keeping my body warm, being prepared to go on really at any time because when we would look at the radar, sometimes it would only be 15 minutes worth of rain, and sometimes it ended up going much longer than that.”

It’s only fitting that Collins celebrates her best result at the All England Club, after announcing in January that 2024 is her last season on tour. Should the 2022 Australian Open finalist keep the Ws coming, one of her wishes is bound to come true: a singles match on her sport’s most famous playground.

Q: You've gone deep in slams before obviously. At what point does your mind start going towards the end of the tournament? ...You're in the second week. Is it, like, okay, game on?

DANIELLE COLLINS: I've gone far in other Slams, but I haven't gone far here. So right now I'm really excited about having some more success here.

It's a goal of mine to be able to play on Centre Court in a singles match at some point. I have yet to do that in my career. So I am just trying to ride this thing out until I can play on Centre Court...

...That's a huge bucket lister for me, to be able to play on Centre Court in my singles.

I've played on Centre Court before in doubles during my semifinal match here with my friend, Des (Desirae Krawczyk), who I'm playing Olympics with this year. That was one of my most cherished memories on court, being able to play on Centre Court.

I am just trying to ride this thing out until I can play on Centre Court. Danielle Collins, after winning on Court 3

What else does Collins have her eye on crossing off?

Other items on her tennis bucket list include collecting Olympics pins in Paris with Emma Navarro and making a deep run at the US Open, her home major.

For a place in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, Collins faces former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova. The winner advances for the right to take on Jelena Ostapenko or Yulia Putintseva, who shocked world No. 1 Iga Swiatek from a set down.