Ajla Tomljanovic says taking over from Ash Barty as Australia's top woman player has breathed fresh determination into her to be worthy of the No.1 honour.
The 29-year-old has overcome a late injury scare to take her place in Monday's first round of the French Open, where she faces a daunting opener against Anett Kontaveit.
Yet neither facing the world No.5 nor concern over a recurring thigh injury that forced her to retire in last week's Morocco Open quarter-final in Rabat has stopped Tomljanovic believing she can have a deep run over the next fortnight.
That would represent the perfect start to grand slam life for her following the Barty era and, having briefly held the Australian no.1 spot in the past, she doesn't take the responsibility lightly.
Asked in an interview with AAP whether she felt any pressure following the Barty reign, Tomljanovic shrugged: "Yes and no.
"We all know that if Ash was still playing, she'd be the No.1 so I didn't really feel that pressure, and don't really think about it because I have my own goals.
"So I wouldn't say I'm losing sleep over it, but I was there before (at the top) briefly - and being No.1 in anything is always fun.
"And there comes responsibility with it. You want to do even better and prove that you're worth that title."
She's currently No.42 in the world rankings, the only Australian in the women's top 100 and 124 places ahead of her nearest rival Astra Sharma. So she could be in line to reign domestically for quite a while.
But Tomljanovic actually hopes younger Australian players will put pressure on her for the top spot.
"I'm definitely happy to have the No.1 spot for now and I'll work hard to keep it - but if other girls in Australia are coming through, that's also something great for our country."
For the moment, her only concern is recovering from the thigh injury which she reckons is her recurring "weak spot".
"I'm good now. I've had a little bit of time to get 100% ready and in the best shape possible. I definitely think I could have a good run here," added Tomljanovic, who first made her name in this event eight years ago as a young Croatian tyro crashing into the last-16.
The rising Estonian Kontaveit, a winner in St Petersburg this year who leads Tomljanovic 2-0 in their matches, is an unkind draw, though.
"But I don't mind playing someone tough first round - it's everyone's first round and you never know how someone's going to come out," she shrugs.
"I've had some good wins here when I was really young and you've just got to channel all that in a slam and believe in yourself."
AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION ON DAY TWO AT THE FRENCH OPEN ON MONDAY (prefix denotes seeding):
Men
Jordan Thompson v 5-Rafael Nadal (ESP)
James Duckworth v Mikael Ymer (SWE)
John Millman v 27-Sebastian Korda (USA)
Women's singles
Daria Saville v Valentini Grammatikopoulou (qualifier) (GRE)
Ajla Tomljanovic v 5-Anett Kontaveit (EST)
