Coco Gauff feels she is ready to shed herself of the 'teenage phenomenon' tag she has been carrying since she burst on to the scene as a fresh-faced 15-year-old at Wimbledon 2019.
The American - now 18-years-old - reached the last-16 on that occasion and progressed to her first Grand Slam final last year when she reached the last two of the French Open.
She goes into this week's Australian Open as the seventh seed and, in an online column for the BBC, insists now is her time to go that extra step and win a major tournament.
She wrote:
"I feel I'm ready to leave behind the tag of 'teenage phenomenon'. Now it is time to be known as a Grand Slam champion. I feel like all the players still call me a baby, and usually I'm still one of the youngest in the draw, but I've been around for a while. My main ambition for 2023 is winning a Grand Slam title. That's the biggest goal.
Gauff has been as high as World No.4 and has already blazed a trail in 2023 after winning the ASB Classic in Auckland without dropping a set.
The youngster, from Delray Beach in Florida, confessed she has put in the extra work during the off-season and that hard work is now baring fruit after taking her third WTA title.
"I know I can win a Grand Slam title. Now it is about making the final step. I just need to fine-tune some details and I worked hard in pre-season to do that. I really think that I had probably one of the best off-seasons I have had. It was a lot of hard work, a lot of long days.
The teenager added.
"But I've improved my game a lot. One of my other goals was to win a WTA Tour title - I didn't do that last year - and I have already that checked off by winning in Auckland last week. The signs are good and hopefully this success continues throughout the season."
Gauff has the honour of being first up on the Rod Laver Arena for this years event and will begin her bid for a first Grand Slam title against Katerina Siniakova.
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