LAST Boxing Day was certainly one to remember for teenager Ali Collins. The tennis prodigy was loafing around in her pyjamas when her dad received a text message. This was no normal text though, it was Judy Murray asking: “Does Ali want to come and hit with Andy?” Yes, the world No 1 and Wimbledon champion wanted to play tennis with Collins.
“When my dad came up to my bedroom and asked if I fancied going for a hit with Andy, I was like what?”, says the 17-year-old. “I was so excited. I went straight there and it was amazing, “Andy’s such a nice guy. I was a bit nervous when we started but as we got going, my nerves died down. He’s such a huge idol of mine so for him to ask me to have a hit was amazing.”
The Collins-Murray pairing is not quite as random as it may sound.
Collins was born and brought up in the Murrays’ home town of Dunblane and Judy has always been a fervent supporter of hers.
The Murrays’ support is not given blindly though; it’s a result of a real belief that the teenager could make it into the big-time in the tennis world.
Collins is currently making the final preparations for her next competitive appearance, the qualifying rounds of Junior Wimbledon next week and the teenager is in good form having recently won an ITF Grade 2 singles title in Hungary last month as well as a doubles title at a Grade 1 event in France in April.
However, the past 18 months have not all been plain sailing for Collins.
At the start of 2016, she made the monumental decision to move from her family home in Dunblane to the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Florida, the sister centre of the Barcelona training academy Andy Murray relocated to as a teenager.
While things began well for Collins in Florida, she became unsettled and ultimately took the decision to return home to Scotland.
“Last year was tough,” she says. “It started off with me being homesick and then I wasn’t enjoying my practices and so my game was falling behind.
“At the start, I loved it in Florida but I was only 15 and so in the end, I think I was just a little bit too young to have made that move.”
Collins is back at her family home in Dunblane and is now being coached by former tennis pro, Nicola Slater. It is a set-up that the teenager believes is doing great things for her game but despite things not working out in America, she does not for a second regret her stint across the pond.
“It was a huge learning curve for me – in life as well as in tennis,” she says. “It helped me mature and become more independent. I’m still really open to going away again in the future but for now, I’m loving being back at home.
“Nicola’s been a really positive influence on my game and the year has gone really well so far – I’ve seen improvements and I feel like I’m moving in the right direction.”
To be mentioned in the same breath as the Murrays could, for some, be a crushing pressure but Collins sees it purely as a motivation that she has the encouragement from such tennis luminaries.
And with Collins having looked up to Andy Murray for as long as she can remember, it is inspirational for her to see her idol at such close quarters.
“Andy was a huge influence in me wanting to be a tennis player and wanting to be a pro,” she says. “He’s still my role model and I always look up to him.
“Being from the same town, it does add that bit of belief. But it’s his attributes much more than where he’s from that make him my role model. The way he carries himself is amazing and I really admire that.
“And Judy has been amazing with me, ever since I was young. She’s constantly helping me, giving me advice and been a huge support. To have her on my side is really amazing.”
Collins may still be young but she possesses an impressively mature attitude and is under no illusions about how tough it will be to reach the upper echelons of her sport.
“It’s so tough to get to the top but I’m hoping that if I put the work in and keep focusing on my goals that hopefully one day I can play at that level,” she says.
“If I could ever win a grand slam, that would be absolutely amazing – it would make all the hard work so worth it.”
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