Destanee. There is a story in the name. Had to be. "The truth is, yeah, people have a lot of questions about that," says Rosie Aiava, the mother and coach of the 16-year-old Australian who on Monday will become the first player born in the 2000s to contest a grand slam main draw.
"It was mainly because at the time my husband and I were going through a lot, and I was thinking at the time that when I had my first child that I would name her Destanee, because it was kind of like with all that craziness that we went through it was meant to be. So my child would be named Destanee."
The teenager's own preference is for Des, but her mother and 11-year-old brother Toriq are allowed to call her Dee Dee. Others, meanwhile, are happy just to call her Australia's outstanding young female tennis prospect, as Sam Stosur enters her twilight years, adopted daughter Daria Gavrilova pushes for a place in the top 20, and Ash Barty returns from cricket and soul-searching, far happier for her time away.
Aiava started out in soccer. That did not go so well. "I got kicked off the team," she admits. " Because? "I wouldn't pass the ball. I'm not a good team player, so I wanted a sport I would be by myself. I just like everything about me only." Is she the same off the court? How does that work out at home with Toriq? "Not very good!"
Her tennis is working out considerably better. Aiava's first big adventure was as a 12-year-old who won the 2012 Longines Future Aces in Paris, an annual event at French Open time between representatives from 16 countries. Part of her prize was a hit with the great Steffi Graf. This reporter's story from that time first revealed Aiava's confident vision for her, well, destiny, as a future No.1.
"I'm a pretty aggressive player, I have good footwork, I have a lot of strengths. I like to come up to the net sometimes and mix up the play," was the quiet self-assessment from that time, while her then-coach, Andrea Stoltenberg, added: "'Destanee knows how to play, so that's something she already has inside. There are some special things about her. She's got great intuition, she's very fast, and has a real killer instinct; she's very focused and every ball is like the last ball."
Then, as now, power was a trademark, and her strong, well-muscled 175-centimetre body is already more woman than girl. But a reminder of her youth comes with Aiava's admission that she needs to guard against mobile phone distractions that have ensured that, back in Noble Park, there are rules.
"Mum's given me a time limit on my phone and that's really helped me stay focused and know what my job is. It's 'off at 7(pm)'."
Rosie laments, like most parents, the fixation with screens and devices. "I say 'only when you're resting, you can have the phone. When you're getting ready for training, or finish training, that's not No.1. It's recovery, or warm-up. Then you can do whatever you want. Talk to your friends, the normal things'."
That includes some down time for TV, and Rosie tells of being busy in the kitchen and hearing roars of laughter coming from the loungeroom, where her daughter (birth year, 2000), chortles away watching re-runs of That 70s Show. "I'm kind of an old soul inside," Destanee explains.
Yet also one thrust into an adult world, Aiava having contested her first ITF Futures tournament two years ago, and now having earned senior AO wildcards in both singles – where she will meet experienced German qualifier Mona Barthel, a former world No.23 – and doubles. At the Brisbane International, the world No.386 bolted through qualifying to upset former top-30 American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round before falling 6-4, 6-3 to dual major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. The reward for the young owner of 50 pairs of shoes was a shopping trip, and a new outfit bought from her prizemoney cheque for $12,290. At the Open, it will be $50,000, minimum.
Aiava appeared at this week's Kooyong Classic, the self-described attention lover preparing at her home club for the grand slam big-time at Melbourne Park. At Wimbledon, as a junior, she was stoked to have a photo taken with her idol, Serena Williams. Just over six months later, they had a hit together at Margaret Court Arena on Thursday, and are associates in the main draw.
With Williams as her "empowering" role model, Aiava has talked of wanting to "play like a man", on the basis that "well, girls struggle playing men, so if I play a men's style game then that'll give me an advantage against the women." Her Kiwi-born father Marc is a mixed martial arts coach and powerlifter; Rosie, of American Samoan heritage, has a sporting background that has included representative rugby union and state-level soccer, but no previous tennis experience. Still, she says, she took over as coach almost two years ago at Destanee's request.
"She got to a certain stage in her game where she wasn't enjoying it as much, so she asked me to please help her," says Rosie. "She wasn't feeling comfortable and happy out there, so I said 'what do I know about tennis? Oh my God!'. But because of the amount of years that I've competed in front of her, she's always watched me and I've taken her to all my games and training with my teammates, I think she probably had a lot of confidence or whatever with me. I've always travelled with her as well ... So, being my baby, why not?"
The theory was to work on Destanee's strengths, including biomechanically, and develop a game style – "if we have weapons everywhere there is no weakness any more" – that suited her desire to take charge, to control the points. Footwork and variety are also keys, with Rosie believing "this sport can be taken to the next level", and confident her daughter is en route.
Aiava is already the 18-and-under national champion and Australian No.6 with a bullet, yet while former world No.1s Martina Hingis and Dinara Safina are among the women to have been guided by their mothers, there are many others who prefer parents to be parents and leave professional coaches to provide the on-court guidance.
Rosie insists she has a "Mum first", coach second, policy, and that while no cheek is tolerated, plenty of fun is had by all. "I really enjoy it," says Destanee. "There is some tension on court sometimes, but then that goes away straight away – after she tells me off! She knows how to talk to me and I understand what she wants from me. That's a really good combination."
So, for now, everything is, well, rosy, and Destanee's understanding of her name's origins is that her mother thought she was having a daughter who was "gonna be something special". So it may be, even if she can laugh that her destiny, in part, was a life spent telling people to just call her Des.