Two-Time NCAA Champ Collins Receives Oracle US Tennis Award
March 18, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Former Virginia women’s tennis standout and two-time NCAA Champion Danielle Collins was one of two players named an inaugural recipient of the Oracle US Tennis Award on Friday.
Collins, along with men’s tennis player Mackenzie MacDonald, will each receive a $100,000 grant intended to assist young players as they transition from college into the professional ranks. The two young professionals were selected by a six-member advisory council comprised of former tennis professionals and executives. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association, the governing body of college tennis, will administer the grants.
Collins and MacDonald were presented the award by Oracle CEO Mark Hurd and women’s tennis Hall-of-Famer Chris Evert.
A two-time NCAA Women’s Singles Champion at Virginia, Collins helped lead the Cavaliers to back-to-back appearances in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships in 2015 and 2016. She won her first NCAA Championship in singles as a sophomore in 2014 and then repeated the accomplishment with her second NCAA Championship as a senior in 2016.
She is only the seventh woman to claim two NCAA Championships in singles competition and the first women’s player from the ACC to win two singles championships. Collins was the Honda Sports Award winner for women’s tennis in 2016 and finished her career as a three-time ITA All-American.
The newly created Oracle US Tennis Awards Advisory Council includes:
– Chris Evert: Former singles world No. 1; current ESPN tennis commentator; co-founder of Evert Tennis Academy
– Ilana Kloss: Former singles world No. 19; commissioner of Mylan World Team Tennis
– Peggy Michel: three-time grand slam doubles champion; played college tennis at Arizona State; current Assistant Tournament Director & Vice President of Sales at the BNP Paribas Open
– Dr. Timothy Russell: CEO ITA; college educator for three decades
– Martin Blackman: General Manager, USTA Player Development; played college tennis at Stanford
– Todd Martin: former singles world No. 4; CEO International Tennis Hall of Fame and Tournament Director, Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open; played college tennis at Northwestern University