Day captures W.L. Amos Sr. Tennis Classic championship

Kayla Day is only 17 years old and has not even made her decision on where she will play her college tennis. But that did not stop her from cruising through the field in the W.L. Amos Sr. Tennis Classic at Mercer.

Day lost only one set in the entire tournament and easily defeated Danielle Rose Collins 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday to take home the singles title.

“I think it was important to start off fast and maybe get your nerves out of the way, but I was ready for however the match went,” said Day, who broke Collins three times in the first set. “She tried to slow things down a little in the second set, and it took me a few games to get used to it, but I was able to keep things going.”

The only real stress for Day was early in the second set when Collins broke Day’s serve to take a 2-1 lead. But Day broke right back to tie the set and then broke Collins two more times to get the win.

“I was a little frustrated, but I knew that I had broken her a few times in the first set, so I was confident I could get it back,” Day said. “Overall, I was very pleased with the way I played. I loved being in Macon the last week and it was just very relaxing for me.”

Collins had a grueling week as she played in the qualifying tournament just to get into the main draw. Sunday was her eighth match in eight days, but the two-time NCAA singles champ at Virginia did not use fatigue as an excuse.

“I really think I just need to give Kayla all the credit because she played very well,” Collins said. “She got off to a very good start and was just killing the ball, and even though I had to play a lot of matches, I think that helped me because I got a little better every match. I made a lot of improvements this week, but I got a little bit unlucky early and was not able to do much with her because she was playing so well.

“Even after I got the break on her in the second set, I was trying to find a rhythm, and I just never really found it.”

Michaella Krajicek and Taylor Townsend lost the first set to Sabrina Santamaria and Keri Wong 6-3 but stormed back to win the second set 6-2. Krajicek and Townsend then won the 10-point tiebreaker 10-6 to capture the doubles title.

This story was originally published October 30, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Day captures W.L. Amos Sr. Tennis Classic championship."