Danielle Collins fired back at a member of the crowd during her Madrid Open round three clash on Sunday night, telling someone to show more ‘respect.’

In-form Collins was in the middle of a tough tussle against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, with the 13th seed trailing by a set when the incident happened at one game all in set two.

At deuce on her serve, the American initially appeared to direct a brief glance towards her left, before looking upwards again and directly addressing a member of the crowd.

“You come out and you play,” she said.

“Come out here and do what I do, okay? Have a little more respect.”

Danielle Collins claps back at someone in the crowd.

“You come out and you play. Come out here and do what I do, okay? Have a little more respect.”

Respect the athletes. pic.twitter.com/jNxg9HOG4b

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 28, 2024

It is not yet known what was said to the world No 15 to warrant such a reaction, but the incident did appear to fire Collins up even further.

The US No 3 managed to rally and defeat Cristian from a set down, extending her winning run to 15 matches with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 triumph.

Collins came into Madrid in the form of her career, having won the WTA 1000 event in Miami – the biggest title of her career – before claiming the title at the WTA 500 event in Charleston.

And her fine form has continued in the Spanish capital, with battling victories over Olga Danilovic and Cristian seeing her through to the second week at this event for the first time, in her final season on tour.

It is not the only incident of note in Madrid this weekend, with Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev clashing with umpires on Court Manolo Santana.