Danielle Collins' health: "It’s extremely painful and scary" - The American opens up about her struggle a year after endometriosis diagnosis

Danielle Collins, who burst onto the scene by reaching the last four of the 2019 Australian Open, returned to the semifinals at Melbourne Park on Wednesday. The 27th seed enjoyed a resounding 7-5, 6-1 win over Alize Cornet in their last-eight encounter.

The American's win held extra significance for her as it came after a tumultuous year. She had to undergo emergency surgery for endometriosis, a health condition in which the tissue that normally lines the uterus starts to grow in other areas.

Collins' health condition remained undiagnosed for a long time, with doctors prescribing her anti-inflammatory medication to help with the discomfort. Now, after undergoing corrective surgery, the 28-year-old has opened up about her health struggles.

Speaking to the media after her fourth-round win over Elise Mertens, the American recalled the "extremely painful and scary" period right after her surgery, saying she did not know how her body was going to recover.

"I think any time you're going to have a surgery like I had, any athlete would find it less than ideal and nerve-racking knowing how your body is going to recover after that type of surgery," the American said.

"It's extremely painful and scary," she continued. "Because there is a lot of important things in life that you learn about during those surgeries."

The World No. 30 felt it would certainly have benefited her career had she been diagnosed earlier but said she is able to live her "best life" now that the surgery was a success.

"I do think had I had the diagnosis a little bit earlier, I think it certainly could have benefited me," the American said. "But it's just one of those things that didn't happen, so now it's great that we know what was going on, we were able to go in surgically and fix it. Now I'm able to live my best life and be able to feel like a normal person."

Collins at the 2022 Australian Open

Collins also spoke about the support she received from the tennis community after her diagnosis, revealing that a lot of her fellow players had reached out to her.

The American said despite tennis being a highly competitive sport, all the players got along well off the court and were "really supportive".

"You know, I had so many other players reach out to me before I had the surgery, during, after," Collins said. "And, you know, I think that's one of the nice things about this sport is I think everyone is very competitive, but I think at the end of the day, I think most of the girls get along with each other really well and are really supportive and very good people."

"After my surgery, I'm able to kind of train more consistently" - Danielle Collins

Collins will be eyeing her first Grand Slam final at the 2022 Australian Open

Danielle Collins also revealed that she has been able to "train more consistently" since the surgery.

"I feel like before when I was, before my surgery and before I was on the proper medication, I was always having to adjust my training around my cycle," the American said. "Because of how painful my periods were."

"And now with things being more consistent, I'm able to kind of train more consistently" she continued. "And not have to have, you know, such drastic changes, especially the week of my cycle."

The 27th seed will square off against Iga Swiatek on Thursday for a place in the final of the Australian Open.