In a conversation between Daria Gavrilova and Nicole Pratt last year, Australia's head of women's tennis asked the player whose breakout performance was a fourth-round appearance at Melbourne Park: "Why can't you win a grand slam?" Gavrilova, who had her own personal timetable, said she wasn't ready yet.
So is the only Australian to reach the last 16 ready now?
Australia's Daria Gavrilova celebrates after defeating Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky in their third round match.Credit:AP
"She's getting there," Pratt said before Gavrilova's Monday night duel with fifth seed and US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova for a place in her maiden major quarter-final.
"Listen,she knows she's capable of beating anyone in the world on any given day, but it's about backing up match after match after match and that's been a little bit of the issue. So I think she's definitely getting closer to that, and with any grand slam I think any player would say that they need a little help along the way."
Gavrilova has needed a trio of three-setters to get this far, including Saturday night's lengthy defeat of Swiss 12th seed Timea Bacsinszky. She did not finish her media commitments until after midnight; was not asleep back home in South Melbourne until 3am. At least, though, Pliskova was also in night-owl mode, having trailed 2-5 in the third set before beating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 10-8 to reach the last 16 here for the first time.
Gavrilova had a Sunday morning swim and did some laundry before returning for a fruit-munching sponsor's appearance and a 3pm practice session watched by over 100 people, in which she yawned a few times, seemed slightly weary. Perhaps because she was. "I feel good, to be honest, and I've done all the right things in terms of recovering," said the 22th seed. How much does she have left? "My body's feeling good. I don't know. We'll see."
Underdog status. She'll take it. "It is much easier, but I still feel like I am capable of winning," said the Russian-born Australian, who has never won more than three games in any of her four sets against Pliskova, the thunderous server whose second ball she will target and who she will try to move around as much as possible. Gavrilova's court speed is her greatest asset, her feisty competitive nature and boundless energy other strengths.
She has so far avoided the type of emotional meltdown that ended her tournament in the round-of-16 last year, and coaches Pratt and Biljana Veselinovic – the latter having taken over full-time after the US Open, while collaborating closely with Gavrilova's long-time mentor – have noticed significant improvements in maturity during the past 12 months.
"Comparing Dasha now to last year, she is definitely more calm on the court, and she's more focused and I'm very very proud to say that she was under extreme pressure to defend [her fourth-round points from last year]," said Veselinovic, a Serb who has previously worked with the likes of Lucie Safarova and Alize Cornet.
"Plus this year coming to this tournament she was already well-recognised compared to last year when nobody knew who Dasha was, so she was exposed and she was on TVs and everywhere before the tournament and she felt pressure. And the way she's handled the pressure is really really good."
Gavrilova is unfailingly upbeat, friendly and pleasant, laughs that "I don't think I've ever fought with anyone in my whole life". A testament to her sunny personality is the fact that Veselinovic spent a month with the 22-year-old in China and did not hear a single complaint or witness one bad mood.
She uses up plenty of energy on court, but also feeds off the atmosphere, and must now back up again. "Physically, she's in great shape; it's more the mental fatigue that comes with it," said Pratt. "But that's where grand slams are great, because you get the day off and so, like literally today, there's no pressure. It's an easy day, yet it's still precise what she needs to do in preparation for tomorrow.
"I think it's really important that Dasha has to get a look at quite a few second serves ... so Pliskova has to help out with that, and the other things is she has to take care of her own service games. So we've got a bit of a plan and it's a matter of going and executiing."
Pliskova is a quiet soul, but her big game continues to make the kind of noise she will expect from the pro-Dasha audience on Rod Laver Arena on Monday night. "I'm used to having the crowd against me, so nothing's going to surprise me," said the lanky Czech, just a few minutes before Gavrilova faced the media. "I think I'm going to have the chance to play my aggressive game, not like today."
Linda Pearce is the Chief Tennis Writer and general sports reporter for The Age. She writes about a range of sports, including football, netball, and gymnastics. Linda has twice been named Australian tennis writer of the year.