'Big fat pay cheque' - $180,000 richer Danielle Collins blows kisses at hostile Australian Open crowd after two-hour long boos

Another match, another bout of intense booing from the Australian Open crowd.

Danielle Collins was the latest tennis star to face boos in Melbourne, with the American giving it back to the hostile crowd in her post-match reaction following a 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-2 victory over Destanee Aiava in the second round.

3 Danielle Collins celebrates victory over Australia's Destanee Aiava

3 Danielle Collins blows a kiss to the crowd

Following Jack Draper's own battle with the boos after he beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round, Collins was less composed in the way she handled the febrile atmosphere.

Like Draper, the American played a home hopeful with the 31-year-old facing Aussie rising star Aiava.

The crowd were one-sided from the beginning and Collins was forced into a fight on Kia Arena.

The 10th seed suffered a toe injury and dropped the second set to Aivaa which drew a raucous reaction from the home crowd.

Collins went on to fight back and win the third set, securing a hard-fought victory in two hours and 25 minutes.

The American, who was a beaten finalist to Ash Barty in 2022, goaded the Australian crowd after match point and let out all her emotions following the win.

Boos rang out across Melbourne Park, with the 31-year-old taunting and blowing kisses before gesturing to the crowd that they should kiss her backside.

Following the match, Collins carried on with her feud, claiming she loved them in a sarcastic remark about what she intends to spend her earnings on.

"I was thinking during the match, 'if I'm out here I might as well take that big fat pay cheque," Collins said in her on-court interview.

3 Danielle Collins shakes hands with Destanee Aiava

She then admitted she intends to spend the winnings on a 'good five-star vacation' with fellow American star Coco Gauff, who is also into the third round Down Under.

"Coco [Gauff] and I, we love a good five-star vacation. So part of that cheque is going to go towards that — so, thank you, guys."

In her post-match press conference, the 31-year-old persisted with her war of words with the crowd.

“Every person that bought a ticket to come heckle me, it's all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund. Bring it on," Collins said.

Earlier in the match, the American yelled at the crowd to "shut up" after they jeered following a fault.

Collins will now play fellow countrywoman Madison Keys in an all American battle in the third round.

The heated moment with the crowd follows other matches where the Australian fans in attendance have backed their countrymen to the point where they boo the opponent.

23-year-old Draper experienced something similar when 10,000 Australians booed the Brit from the moment he stepped on-court against Kokkinkais.

“I think sometimes you don’t want to sort of rile them or give it back. But to be fair, it gave me energy doing that,” Draper said.

Click here to read article