MELBOURNE: Full disclosure: Wide World of Sports hasn't seen the visual evidence to confirm.
But tennis insiders are adamant that Danielle Collins has a hidden tattoo that, well, is very Danielle Collins.
"Did you know that she actually has a tattoo inside her lip that says 'savage?' Chris Stubbs asked Mark Petchey on Stan Sport's Grand Slam Daily.
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"I did," former pro player and coach Petchey confirmed.
"I haven't seen it personally in real life, but I do know it does (exist)."
It all adds to the Collins mythology as the 'villain' prepares to take on fellow American Madison Keys on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night.
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Danielle Collins gives it to the crowd. Stan
Collins – in case you've been living under a rock or spending too much of your January at work – is public enemy No.1 in Australia after issuing a 'kiss my butt' message to her haters in the crowd.
"I believe, from what I got told this morning, that Madi Keys got a knock on her hotel door and she got an Australian passport delivered," Petchey joked.
"So she won't be lacking fans out there, that's for sure. But you know what, Collins is a little bit like a lot of the players out there.
"She knows what to expect tonight. She knows that the crowd are going to be against her, and for Keys, but she revels in that kind of thing. She loves chaos."
And count no less than Novak Djokovic as being in the Collins corner.
He thinks her response to booing fans at the Australian Open was absolutely fine – which should come as no surprise, given the way Djokovic gets into back-and-forths with hecklers at his matches, including on Friday night at Rod Laver Arena.
So often stereotyped as a genteel, country club sport, tennis is letting loose lately.
Some spectators are louder and more confrontational than ever, and some players increasingly are giving as good as they get, willing to engage with the folks in the seats and not just let things go.
Djokovic, who has won 10 of his 24 grand slam titles at Melbourne Park, has been doing this for a while now, not shy about telling people they need to ease up if they cross a line by saying certain things during his matches.
That happened again during his third round victory, about 24 hours after Collins did not go quietly while being jeered by thousands of locals watching her win against Destanee Aiava at Kia Arena.
Collins then doubled down on the antagonism at her news conference.
"I loved her response. I loved it. Everything she said on the court, off the court. Big fan of Danielle Collins after that. I was before. But now? Big fan. I love it," Djokovic said with a smile.
"I heard some comments of people that she shouldn't have said (this) or that. I think she handled it really well. I don't think I would be that polite, and I know exactly the feeling. So I think she was funny, smart."
And then, just in case his position wasn't quite clear, Djokovic repeated: "Just a big fan of what she did. Big fan."
Right after her win over Aiava on Thursday ended, 2022 runner-up Collins blew kisses to the booing spectators and asked them, "How about that?!"
Destanee Aiava and Danielle Collins meet at the net to shake hands after their second round match at the Australian Open. Getty
The 31-year-old from Florida went after them during her on court interview and some more while speaking to reporters soon after.
"When I finally got momentum, I'm like: 'well, if I'm going to be out here for 2 1/2 hours, putting up with all these people, I might as well just take the bigger pay cheque, right? I was super happy to do that," Collins said.
"One of the greatest things about being a professional athlete is the people that don't like you and the people that hate you, they actually pay your bills. It's kind of a cool concept… Every person that's bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it's all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund. Yeah, bring it on. I love it."
At his news conference, Djokovic noted that tennis has "the history and tradition that we are proud of and makes our sport different from other sports," but acknowledged that certain changes would be OK, to add something to a sport that has been "maybe conservative in some things."
– with AP
