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The 25-year-old eschewed turning pro to concentrate on her education. Now she credits her collegiate career with her run to the semi-finals in Melbourne

Early in her Australian Open quarter-final victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Tuesday, Danielle Collins challenged a line call that had gone in her opponent’s favor. Her challenge was incorrect, and a frustrated Collins complained loudly about the outcome. That reaction was unsurprising: during her run to the semi-finals, Collins has established herself as someone unafraid to make her opponents uncomfortable. Before now Collins had never won a main draw match at a major, and her boldness is one of the reasons she is deep into the second week in Melbourne.

Collins hasn’t exactly come out of nowhere – she is the world No 35 – but the casual tennis fan can be forgiven for having no idea who this vocal, unflinching American is. The 25-year-old was ranked 162nd a year ago, before she put together wins over Madison Keys on her way to the quarters at Indian Wells, Coco Vandeweghe and Venus Williams during a semi-final run in Miami, Victoria Azarenka en route to another semi-final in San Jose, and Carla Suárez-Navarro in Eastbourne.

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from US news | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WaBoH0