"My parents used to bribe me a lot"- Danielle Collins reveals how unique gesture helped her to develop motivation to play at young age

Danielle Collins recently revealed the story of how she got into tennis. The American shared that during her early years in the game, her parents would often bribe her before tournaments, fuelling her motivation to win.

Collins has been playing on the WTA Tour since 2014. Over the course of the last decade, the 31-year-old has delivered several impressive performances, including winning the Masters 1000 Miami Open and reaching the finals of the Australian Open.

Recently, in an appearance on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Danielle Collins spoke about her early years in the sport. She revealed that her parents would often bribe her, saying (at 12:30),

“This might be frowned upon, but I actually think it's really good. Like my parents used to bribe me a lot. And so they were like, ‘look, if you, you know, if you're able to win this tournament, like we'll get you a new outfit or like you win this tournament, you can get a hamster’ or like little things.”

She went on to add that those bribes provided her with the motivation she needed to push herself, saying,

“I think that having that motivation really helped me to want to actually be productive because I mean, if you don't have that motivation, I feel like most kids are just going to like, want to sit at home and, you know, play Candy Land. I mean, that's what I wanted to do. So for me, I felt like I had a lot of motivation because of my parents and I had fun picking up those trophies. So that was really the reason that I got into tennis.”

Later in the episode, Collins revealed that her motivation to excel in tennis eventually shifted to getting a scholarship for college education.

Danielle Collins set to compete at National Bank Open

Collins at Wimbledon 2025 (Image Source: Getty)

After an incredible run in 2024, where she won the Miami Open, Danielle Collins has been dealt a mixed bag of results in 2025. The American recently competed at the Wimbledon Championships, where she reached the third round.

She opened her campaign in England with a straight sets win over Camila Osorio, before she beat Veronika Erjavec 6-4, 6-1. Collins then ran into eventual champion Iga Swiatek, losing the match 2-6, 3-6.

Now, Danielle Collins is scheduled to return to action at the National Bank Open. The Masters 1000 event is scheduled to take place between July 27 and August 7 in Montreal, Canada and will mark the beginning of the hard-court season for many players.