Collins, who will turn 16 on May 17, captured the Girls 16 singles title at the prestigious Easter Bowl junior tennis championships.

“I was pretty prepared for the tournament,” Collins said. “I went down a week before the tournament to get used to the weather. It was a glorious victory.”

Collins toppled the tournament’s No. 2 seed, Lindsey Nelson of Orange, Calif., 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, in the wind-blown final.

“It was very windy,” Collins said. “The ball would swivel in the air.”

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

Collins overcame a slugglish second set en route to victory.

“I made a lot of errors in the second set, which really hurt me,” she said. “My coach (Mike Wolf) gave me a lot of good advice for the third set. He said I was hitting too much to her forehand so I had to change my gameplan.”

Wolf, who has worked with Collins since she was 8 years old, wasn’t surprised by his pupil’s third-set surge.

“She wasn’t moving the ball enough in the second set,” Wolf said. “She was a little indecisive when to attack and when not to. In the second set she got a little tight and the moment caught up with her a little bit. In the third set she was much more controlled and raised her level.

“That was a very substantial win. It’s one of the premier junior national tournaments. I knew what level of tennis she could play, but she really hadn’t showcased it at a big event like this. She picked the right time to do it.”

Collins, ranked No. 1 in her age group in the Missouri Valley, won seven matches to win the 128-player tournament. She entered the event as the No. 8 seed.

“Going into the tournament I had lost to the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds,” Collins said. “I thought that was a reasonable and pretty fair ranking.”

When Collins isn’t at big-time tournaments, she’s practicing. She trains 4 1/2 hours a day six days a week her one day off is Friday at the Overland Park Racquet Club under the tutelage of Wolf.

“It’s a big payoff,” Collins said of long practices resulting in national success. “Sometimes I get worn out, then I take a couple of days off and go back at it.”

Collins’ breakthrough tournament on the national scene came a couple of years ago at the USTA Girls 14s National Clay Court Championships. She placed second at the meet. In Februrary in Chicago, she won the K-Swiss tournament for her age group.

In the past six months, Collins has added weight training to her weekly regimen. She trains 5 1/2 hours a week with strength coach John Thyfault, a graduate teaching assistant at Kansas University’s Department of Health, Sport & Exercise Science.

“I’m a lot stronger,” Collins said. “I can feel myself move faster. He works with me on my agility.”

Collins attended Seabury Academy for 1 1/2 years before leaving the school at semester to concentrate more on tennis. She now takes correspondent courses through Cambridge Academy, a guided independent study program based out of Florida, and is able to work at her own pace.

“I wanted to spend more time on tennis,” Collins said. “They send me books and I take tests.”

Wolf said the best was yet to come for Collins.

“We have to continue to do it smarter and harder,” he said. “People are going to throw their best stuff at her now and she’s going to have to throw it back at them. Her commitment to tennis has increased and her dedication is deeper. It’s really the beginning of some fine tennis out of her.”