Danielle Collins' final season as a tennis professional is in danger of fizzling out after the American was forced to pull out of the China Open in Beijing.
Collins had revealed her plan to hang up the racket at the end of the year, with her announcement initially sparking a
Her hopes of getting back into the swing of things in Beijing appear to be dead in the water, given that the WTA website hasn't listed her as a competitor.
A week later it's the Wuhan Open - the final WTA 1000-point competition of the year. It's unknown whether Collins intends to compete at the event in China's Hubei province.
That form continued into the early part of the summer, with a semi-final appearance at the Italian Open coming before a run to the fourth round of Wimbledon.
Things began to trend in the wrong direction for Collins at the Olympic Games in Paris when the 30-year-old had to retire midway through her contest with world No.1 and eventual bronze medalist Iga Swiatek.
A run of three consecutive first-round defeats would follow, firstly at the Monterrey Open, then her final appearance at the US Open and most recently the Guadalajara Open, where Collins was dumped out in straight sets against world No.88 Olivia Gadecki.
It's been a brutal spell of form for Collins, whose fairytale end to her career has turned into somewhat of a mini-nightmare.
Her hopes of getting back into the swing of things in Beijing appear to be dead in the water, given that the WTA website hasn't listed her as a competitor.
A week later it's the Wuhan Open - the final WTA 1000-point competition of the year. It's unknown whether Collins intends to compete at the event in China's Hubei province.
The former Australian Open finalist had been coy about when exactly she plans to retire, commenting in January 2024: "This is going to be my last season, actually, competing.
"I don't really know exactly when, but this will be my last season and I'm really looking forward to that."
At the moment, the Billie Jean King Cup in November will likely act as her final tournament, if she can keep herself fit in time.
But with the events on the WTA Tour starting to come to an end, tennis fans might have already seen the last of Collins in a singles event before her impending retirement later this year.
