Danielle Collins fumed at a camera operator who she felt was being 'wildly inappropriate' during her match against Emma Raducanu in Strasbourg. The incident took place during a break in play, with Collins going on to beat her British rival in three sets. It brought an early end to Raducanu's tournament just days after an impressive first-round win over Daria Kasatkina.

During a changeover between games, Collins noticed the camera operator was standing close by and did not hestitate to confront them. She got up from her chair and walked towards them, demanding more space while also urging them to move further away from Raducanu. Collins branded his conduct 'wildly inappropriate' in a furious rant which was picked up on the live broadcast.

She said: "I need to get water. We’re on a changeover. You don’t need to be that close to me and you don’t need to be on top of Emma. It’s wildly inappropriate. It's not that difficult to give space, I'm sorry."

After finishing her verbal tirade, Collins awkwardly filled up her water bottle as the camera operator kept filming her before eventually returning to the court.

Raducanu started the match well, claiming the first set and maintaining the impressive form she showed against Kasatkina. It was at this point that Collins found her feet, winning six of the next seven games to take the second set and force a decider.

It looked as though Raducanu would be forced to retire when she picked up a back injury and called for a medical timeout. She left the court with her physio but eventually returned for the final set, which Collins won to seal a 4-6 6-1 6-3 victory.

After the win Collins said: "To be good at anything, self expression is really important. There aren’t many successful people that feel like they can’t be themselves. I’m a competitor at the end of the day. I’m not meek and mild."

It came after the American admitted her frustration at not getting enough credit for upsetting Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open last week. She prevailed in arguably her best performance of the year, but much of the reaction was centred around her opponent.

Speaking to Tennis Channel before facing Raducanu, Collins said: "I thought I played really well against Iga. I didn’t get a ton of credit for it. After the match, of course, you know, it’s just more about how poorly she [Swiatek] played and everything.

"That can make it difficult to be able to celebrate your win sometimes, when you feel like you have a good match, or you’re playing well and it’s just like: 'Whatever'. So yeah, I was happy about it, but yeah, dealing with that wasn’t as fun as I imagined."

Collins will face the winner of the clash between Jessica Pegula and Anna Kalinskaya in the next round in Strasbourg. She will be hoping to avoid further confrontations with broadcast staff when she returns to the court on Thursday.