Another Dunblane diamond: Ali Collins gives Judy Murray a feeling of deja vu

It would be cruel, then, to hobble such talent with the burden of being the "female Andy Murray", but the path for Ali Collins has had staging posts the Wimbledon champion would recognise and her future may be in the very hands that moulded a callow Scottish teenager into a professional player.

There are obvious similarities between the 15-year-old Collins and Murray: they are both products of Dunblane, they both attended Dunblane Primary School, they both trained at Stirling University, they both have birthdays in May, they both have a parent who played professional sport - in Collins's case her father, Lee, played for Albion Rovers, Swindon Town and Blackpool.

Both were also mentored by Judy Murray, and now Collins eyes further education under the coach who developed Murray from schoolboy to contender. The Olympic gold-medallist travelled to Barcelona to train under Emilio Sanchez Vicario, and now Collins has the opportunity to learn under the Spaniard - but at his facility in Naples, Florida.

The move was crucial in Murray's ascent to the very pinnacle of tennis. In Scotland, he was training with county players and then conversing at tournaments with Rafa Nadal who was informing him that he was hitting with the then world No.1 Carlos Moya in Majorca.

"She is in a very similar position to what Andy was at exactly the same age," says Judy Murray, as Collins helps her coach youngsters at a session in Gleneagles.

"She needs a more competitive playing and training environment. Her practice partners at the moment are two boys and she needs to be somewhere where there are females of a similar standard and of a similar mindset. That is, the mindset that says they want to be professional players. She also, of course, needs to continue her schooling so she must find somewhere where all of that can be found in one spot.''

That somewhere could be the Sanchez-Casal facility in Florida. Collins visited the academy during her Christmas holidays and impressed Sanchez, who runs the school with Sergio Casal.

"Emilio took a big shine to her as he did immediately with Andy. It is almost deja vu. He would like her to go to train with him and I think that is what she wants to do. He has a pool of four or five teenage girls of a similar level and there is a lot to be said for learning to train in an international environment," says Murray.

"What you are preparing them for is an international world so being surrounded by players of different nationalities is very important; plus, she can train outside which is crucial given that it is so difficult to do that in this country at any time in the year.''

She adds: "It would be the right thing for her at this stage of her development and it is about finding a way to put the funds together to make it happen so she can start in September. That is the challenge."

The cost is believed to be in the region of £30,000 a year, and there could be an opportunity for companies or individuals to sponsor an exciting talent as the Lawn Tennis Association will not fund training abroad. Murray will seek to bring private individuals on board to pay the tuition fees.

Although the finance is not yet secured, Murray believes the strategy is 100% correct. "It was crucial in Andy's development to go abroad. He had outgrown his environment here. He was a very big fish in a small pond. And that is not good for anybody at that age.

"He then went into an environment where he was a very small fish in a very large pool. He had a huge variety of people to train and compete with. Lots of different game styles and varying ages. The school was on site, the accommodation was on site. Everything was just there.

"Whereas here your school is somewhere, your home is in another place and you train in yet another place, plus your competitions are all over the world so you spend an enormous amount of time travelling. At that age it is very important not to over-compete, but to focus on developing the game and the body, and keep a balance with a social life and schooling."

The similarities with Andy Murray are striking, the development solution seems the same but, of course, it would be irresponsible to project similar success for Collins. However, Judy Murray sees potential in a girl who has progressed swiftly and surely through the Scottish ranks.

"She has the right attitude," says Murray, who was involved in the development of Davis Cup players in Jamie Baker and Colin Fleming in addition to her sons.

"She has the hand skills like Andy. She reads the game well, she has a lot of variety. It is a similar pathway to that of Andy and it is quite bizarre that at the same stage, it turns out the place she wants to go to is the one run by Emilio."

She says of Sanchez: "Emilio said he had never seen a player as young as Andy have that level of tennis brain. I am not saying Ali has quite that but she has the skills, the variety and the mindset. I am excited about her.

"We have to be careful but there is no doubt that going abroad would develop her as a player and as a person."

Leon Smith, the Davis Cup captain, was on hand at Gleneagles to help Murray give a masterclass to young players and aspiring coaches. He then hit with Collins whom he knows well.

"She has reached a point where she must consider her options because of the standard of sparring partners, the weather, the facilities," said Smith, who coached Murray as a junior.

He has spotted a trait shared by Collins and the boy who would become a grand slam champions.

"She is very committed to tennis. She loves it. She never puts in a poor session. She works her socks off.''

He said Collins had superb athleticism and considerable power and variety in her shots.

"You match that with her attitude and she has a chance. How far can she go? Who knows? But it would be interesting to see her after a fuller training environment. That would give us more of an indication," he says. "She has enough within her game to suggest she can be a professional player."

Her father discloses that his daughter has "stood up and forced the issue".

"She is desperate to become a better player and I am proud that she wants to go to Emilio and proud too that he wants to coach her," says Lee Collins, who is managing director of a kitchen and bathroom design company.

His daughter, too, is desperate to head to Florida. "I really enjoyed my time there at Christmas," she says. "I would love to make that step up to challenge myself."

And what of the comparisons with her fellow denizen of Dunblane?

"I would not say I was the mini-Murray, but he is my idol. I think I am a competitor like him," she says. Her purpose is clear. "I want to get better," she says.

The Murray similarity continues. She sounds like him.