Tennis Pro Danielle Collins' Boyfriend Didn't Know She Was Famous When They Met
So far, 2024 has been the best year of Danielle Collins' career. She won both the Miami Open and Charleston Open and is ranked No. 10 in the world.
Despite her success, she's stepping away from tennis at the end of the year. The tennis star has been transparent about her retirement plans as well as being diagnosed with endometriosis and wanting to start a family when she's done with the game.
On Tuesday, Danielle posted a celebratory picture from the French Open to Instagram. In her caption she expressed how excited she was to "finally" get a break to relax after participating in tournaments the past six months.
"In the beginning of the season it was a goal of mine to qualify for the Olympics 🇺🇸🎾 It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. I am very proud of my success over the last six months," she wrote.
Danielle explained that while she's had an incredible year on the court, she's admitted that she began "dreading going into work and crying daily," because of conversations with the media surrounding her health journey. "Being asked over and over again to justify my success, and constantly being questioned about retiring and wanting to start a family have been really draining," she continued.
The tennis pro wrote that with her hectic schedule and matches ending late at night, she hasn't had time to do activities she enjoys away from the courts. However, she is thankful for the support she's received from her close friends, fans, and her "incredible boyfriend," Bryan.
So, who is the man dating one of the best tennis players in the world? Ahead, everything to know about Danielle's boyfriend, Bryan Kipp.
Bryan is a former college athlete.
Bryan is a former football player at Columbia University in New York. He played in eight games as a defensive lineman and graduated with an industrial engineering degree, per the Columbia Lions website.
He’s a VP at a biotech company.
Currently, Bryan is the Vice President at a biotech firm Revvity, a company that "provides health science solutions, technologies, expertise and services that deliver complete workflows from discovery to development, and diagnosis to cure," according to his Linkedin profile.
They met at a London coffee shop.
Following a loss at Wimbledon, Bryan and Danielle met at a coffee shop in London, per Express. The two talked about their backgrounds, where the tennis star found out he was a former athlete himself.
"I didn't think I would meet someone at a coffee shop. Who would have thought? Just after the tournament, Wimbledon," she told the pub.
He “didn’t know anything about tennis” before Danielle.
When they first met, Danielle found out that Bryan didn't know "anything about tennis."
"He didn't know I was a tennis player, which was really nice. He was actually a bigger fan of golf and so he said, 'Well I really like golf. I don't really know much about tennis'. And I was like, 'Yes! That's so exciting'," she told Express.
The tennis star added, "Because it's fun to kind of be around someone that has interests in other things and that's not as familiar with the sport because you get to learn and grow with them and help them." She grew eager to teach Bryan how to play tennis and saw their connection as an opportunity to improve her golf game as well.
Since he wasn't too knowledgable about tennis, "I explained to him that this is a big deal in the tennis world so hopefully that doesn't tear us apart," Danielle told the pub. "He has gotten me on the golf course, and I'm so competitive. I hate losing to this guy. Love him to death but hate losing to him. He is very competitive."
He’s a member of her “special team.”
After defeating touch competitors at the Charleston Open, Danielle shared how appreciative she was of Bryan's support during her speech at the trophy ceremony and thanked him for bringing "a big smile" to her face.
"Thank you to my special team over there. Bryan, you had a crazy work week, and you got here just in the nick of time, and have been here the last couple of days supporting me, and always helping and bringing such a big smile to my face," she said in her speech.
Following the speech, Bryan and Danielle's dog, Quincy joined her on the court and posed for a picture with the Charleston Open trophy.
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