FORTH VALLEY tennis star Ali Collins has opened up on her lockdown routine in the latest vlog by Tennis Scotland.

Ali, former Junior Grand Slam player and current Scottish women's number 2, stars in the latest episode of Between the Lines, released last week.

Between the Lines is a series launched by governing body Tennis Scotland that chronicle players as they try to reach the top on their gruelling tennis tour.

The 20-year-old from Dunblane has made the most of the lockdown and has been putting in extra work that she doesn't usually have time for.

On top of practicing her skills on the court, filming her own vlog helped improve her media skills too.

Speaking about filming, Ali said: "It was different for sure; I was never the most comfortable in front of the camera, so it was good to get some media training.

"It was actually a lot of fun doing it, it was good to interview the team and I think it turned out quite good."

Ali's vlog showcased her routine, from strength and conditioning training to the people she works with on the court, beginning at 6.45am at Stirling University.

Despite the testing and added requirements, Ali is grateful she can continue to prepare for tennis' return.

She continued: "When we go to the gym it's all the institute athletes, everybody's tested twice a week, we all have masks on and we socially distance.

"In the gym there's normally only a couple of us [and] on court there can be a bit more because of the area and tennis is such a socially distanced sport.

"We've been really fortunate we can still train and practice through the lockdown because without that we wouldn't be able to go and compete [afterwards]."

On spending so much time at home, Ali admits she's found it tough.

She said: "I've found it harder, personally, because I'm so used to being away from home and travelling all the time, so to actually spend a prolonged period of time at home has been challenging in some ways.

"In terms of training it's been good because we just don't get the time to do this, it's given us a really good opportunity to improve our game and given us that extra time to try and really prep for when we get back."

Ali's just started her third year of a business, enterprise and sport online degree at Edinburgh Napier and so she's found continuing her studies through lockdown a lot easier than most as she's used to online learning.

There is currently no set date for a return to competing, but it's clear Ali hopes it's sooner rather than later.

She said: "It's a bit of taking it day by day and seeing how things pan out. We're hoping for a May-ish start,

"I'd prefer it a bit earlier but I think just the way things are, risk-wise it's maybe sensible to wait.

"I've just recently got a new coach and coaching team so it's worked out really well for me because it's given me time to build that relationship and environment."

With her degree nearing completion and a return to competitive action not too far away, Ali's keen to just get back to doing what she loves and seeing what the future holds.

"I always hope to get back to Grand Slam level," she said. "Being there as a junior, it's my dream to play as a senior.

"It's really important that I continue to enjoy it, do the day-to-day work and see where that takes me."

Visit youtube.com/watch?v=4w4JsJb1pLU to watch Ali's Between the Lines vlog.