A year later she is No. 12 in the world with the top 10 in sight and, more importantly, within her capacity.

As much as career trajectories can be plotted and predicted, Wozniacki will play deep into the second week this year and perhaps challenge for the tournament.

Being a teenager makes it easier to seem an overnight sensation, but like Juan Martin del Potro in the men's game and Andy Murray before him, the Danish youngster has been a long time coming.

The girl who won the under-age title at Wimbledon three years ago is now making the strides expected as an adult.

"I believe the top 10 is achievable for me. I think my game is up there and if I play my best I believe I can reach the top 10, but it doesn't just come to you," Wozniacki said.

She began 2008—the year that launched her to the cusp of the game's elite—with a breakthrough tournament at the Australian Open, where she made the fourth round before going on to win in Stockholm, New Haven and Tokyo, and finished no earlier than the third round in the remaining three slams.

"This year it is different because before if I lost a game it really didn't matter because everyone was higher ranked than me," she said.

"Now I am the favourite for most of the matches so usually the pressure is on me, but I just have to enjoy going out there for every match I play. When you are out there you don't think about your ranking and what the ranking is of the girl you are playing."

Wozniacki does not lead a battery of Danish players—she is the only Dane in the top 400 on the WTA tour. Born of Polish parents—her mother was in the Polish volleyball team and her father a professional soccer player—the family only moved to Denmark when her father moved to a Danish club.

Wozniacki yesterday opened her 2009 tournament by defeating Shahar Peer—her doubles partner—in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, with a game of strength and poise that belied her years.