But after her entertaining Australian Open performance concluded on Saturday night, the fiery American couldn't help but feel some of her tormentors might have taken the "banter" too seriously.
Melbourne's raucous crowd enjoyed the last laugh over Collins as she suffered a 6-4 6-4 third-round exit at the hands of compatriot Madison Keys.
Collins needed medical attention from the trainer during her defeat. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)
Booed from the moment she stepped foot on Rod Laver Arena, 10th seed Collins was stoic.
"Yeah, I expected that (booing), obviously. That's fine," Collins said.
"I really do enjoy playing in these types of environments. It's what you work so hard for your entire life as a kid. I embraced it.
"The biggest thing is that nobody got hurt.
"Maybe some feelings got hurt or things were taken personally, and they probably shouldn't have been taken personally by the crowd.
"But, yeah, I feel like people take life way too seriously, sometimes."
Collins became public enemy No.1 in Melbourne when she gleefully wound up a raucous home crowd following her hard-fought win over local Destanee Aiava on Thursday.
After winning, she cupped her hand to her ear and yelled "How about that?" before blowing kisses to the crowd and slapping her backside.
Danielle Collins receives a serenade of boos as she enters Rod Laver Arena. :angry::loud_sound:— Eurosport (@eurosport) #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/eGcuxwS9YgJanuary 18, 2025
She further wound them all up in her on-court interview - and later thanked them for the "big fat pay cheque" that would go towards her next holiday.
No surprise then that the locals weren't on her side for her reappearance.
Boos rained down on Collins when she entered the arena, drawing a wry smile from the former finalist.
But the vitriol didn't stop there, with heckling and cheers for Collins' faults and errors as Keys claimed the first set.
"I kind of knew what it was going to be like going out there," Keys, who next plays sixth seed Elena Rybakina, said.
"I think the crowd was pretty pro-me and not for Danielle. I think they made that pretty clear from the start.
"I was glad, I was happy with myself just staying focused on myself and playing some decent tennis."
Collins went up 3-0 in the second set but Keys responded, breaking back to draw level at 3-3.
Madison Keys ended up beating her old friend in straight sets. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)
Someone in the crowd yelled out to Collins it was "time for a holiday" when she was down 0-40 at 3-3 in the next game.
Applause then greeted her double fault on break point before Collins took a medical timeout to get her left knee treated and strapped.
Keys saw out the match in professional fashion while Collins received a mix of boos and cheers as she departed.
Collins later said the tournament had been great for her emotionally.
"Earlier in my career, I was more concerned about what people think. I was much more guarded about my personality because I know I can be fiery, and I know that can rub people the wrong way," she said.
"I never want to hurt someone's feelings or be disrespectful to someone that I'm competing against, especially the people I really respect.
"Maybe with age comes this attitude of, like, we're going to be ourselves. I'm going to accept who I am, and I'm going to just go for it.
"I'm really proud of myself that I just have gotten to the point where I really don't care anymore about what people who aren't important to me think."
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