"Sometimes I laugh at myself when I watch the replays," Gavrilova says.

"I see clips of me on the news running around like a crazy person. It's a bit strange watching myself and watching how I actually felt on the court. Seeing it on TV is pretty strange."

Gavrilova is every bit as entertaining between points as during them. That she is not always in control of her emotions is one of her most endearing qualities. At times they get the better of her - "sometimes I'm focusing too much on the negatives instead of focusing on the task I have to do" - but her passion is also her greatest strength.

She may feel more comfortable on a hardcourt than in Hollywood, but "Dasha" still puts on a good show.

"I was going to be a movie star when I was 12," she says. "I don't want that any more.

"I can't remember lines, so I would struggle with being an actress."

Rather than learning lines, she is hitting them. The 23-year-old has done so consistently during another solid season in which she won her first WTA title, against former grand slam finalist Dominika Cibulkova in Connecticut, and was runner-up in two other tournaments. She will be seeded at the Australian Open after finishing the season with a world ranking of 22.

Unlike some of her compatriots, the pressure of playing in front of an expectant home crowd will be a boost rather than a burden.

"I love playing at home, the crowd is always behind me and I can really feel it," she says.

"I give back as well, so I get really engaged with the crowd. Sometimes at training I get bored, I'm like, 'There's no one watching, who cares?'

"I don't focus on controlling emotion [during matches]. Whatever happens, I don't concentrate on controlling what I feel.

"I've always been this way so I know my strengths with my coaches.

"We know that if I'm positive and bouncy, it really helps my tennis."

Gavrilova will be one of the headline acts at the Sydney International, which starts on January 7, part of a field boasting six grand slam champions and 20 of the world's top 30. Some of the stars in the field, such as Venus Williams, were players she looked up to as a child. Not that the Russian-born Aussie will be overawed.

"I'm used to it because I'm on tour with these girls all the time, but it was pretty fascinating at the start," she says.

"Walking into the locker room and staring at what they were doing, it looked like I was fan-girling.

"It's a good thing, you can't be spoiled and act like a cool kid. Now I've played a few of them - even beat Maria [Sharapova] - it's pretty amazing."

???Gavrilova grew up in Moscow but now considers herself very much an Aussie. Her fingernails are often painted in the colours of her adopted country and she loves Vegemite.

"Everyone is laughing at me, like how is that possible [to like Vegemite] when I didn't grow up here," she says.

"That's because I tried it the right way, with a piece of bread and butter, not how they give it to a European person, like a spoonful.

"My dad tried it when Laura Robson's mum gave it to him. He was like, 'Eeeeew, that's the worst thing ever'."

There are other Australian traits as well. Her never-say-die-attitude has invited favourable comparisons to compatriot Lleyton Hewitt.

"A few people have compared me to Lleyton, I've always liked him," Gavrilova says.

"I remember I cried when he lost once when I was a little kid.

"I had a bet with my dad that he would win and he ended up losing. I was upset. Maybe more that I lost the bet."

She doesn't lose often, particularly when playing in Australia. Her WTA title has given her confidence she can make it deep into the majors and her goals have become loftier.

"Top 10 is a goal," she says. "That would be pretty cool to achieve that."

Gavrilova's tennis career got off to an inauspicious start. She took up the game at six years of age and her father sought a coach. The first person they approached turned them away.

"I can't remember exactly, I just didn't want to do what they told me to," Gavrilova says.

"I was pretty chubby. This coach already had a few good kids anyway."

It's a decision the mentor may regret. A decade later, Gavrilova was the world's top-ranked junior female.

During her travels playing tournaments around the world, she met the world's top-ranked junior male, Australian Luke Saville. They immediately hit it off. Soon she began to view Melbourne as her second home and then decided to make it her first.

"I just made the decision: yep, I'm coming," she says.

Gavrilova continues to spend as much time with Saville as their respective schedules allow, although little of it is on court.

"No, we don't really practise together because he is much better than me," she says.

"We definitely talk about tennis a lot and help each other.

"We're both very supportive of each other. He's going through the same stuff as well, we know what's going on and when we can try to help or step back and not say anything."

When the tennis career is all over, Gavrilova has more interest in becoming a barista than making her way to Broadway.

"I would like to open a coffee shop or something," she says.

"I could socialise with people, make coffees in the morning and be like, 'Hey guys, have a good day'."