KEY POINTS:
It's a fairly impressive sight, watching Sacha Jones pound tennis balls at the start of a training session.
The diminutive blond teenager, who just might be the next big thing New Zealand tennis has waited so long for, starts out with a few dinks from the service line.
But it's not long till she backs up and starts lashing away with arcing forehands and authoritative double-fisted backhands. Her hitting partner, coach Rene Moller, keeps up a steady stream of returns that Jones pounds with more and more intent as the rally wears on.
Moller drops a couple of mishits into the nets long before Jones makes her first error. When the error comes, a flash of pure anger streaks across her face, before being replaced with her customary look of steely concentration.
That flash is the first glimmer of what Moller described as Jones' mongrel attitude.
It's an attitude Moller believes will help the 17-year-old prodigy succeed where so many of her countrywomen and men have failed.
"She has all the intangibles that you can't teach," says Moller.
"She has that spirit, that desire, that fight. She has mongrel in her. A lot of kids are pretty soft these days. They lose the first set and they get down and that is pretty much it. Sacha is going to hang in there and fight until the end."
Of course, it's one thing to look good in practice - and she truly does, with an athletic sun-baked look common to the young starlets who spend the bulk of their time on the courts of Florida tennis academies.
But it is in the heat of battle where Jones has been making the biggest strides.
On a recent swing through Asia, she won through three rounds of qualifying to make the main draw of WTA tournaments in China and Taipei. In Taipei, she knocked over former world no 19 Tamarine Tanasugarn in the first round proper and also won her second round match before exiting in the quarters.
In China, she went one better, making the semis.
Those results have helped catapult her career ranking up 422 places, from 745 at the end of 2006 to 323.
That progress, combined with her youth and extensive experience - she lists former world No 1s Martina Hingis, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf as hitting partners - and glittering junior career has kindled hopes that New Zealand may be on the verge of producing its first decent touring pro since Brett Steven.
Such hopes could sit heavily on the shoulders of someone who has just turned 17, but Jones laughs at the idea of high expectations being a burden.
"I don't think it would be a burden, I think it would be quite cool," she says.
"If I think of it as a burden that is never going to help me."
Precocious female tennis talents and obsessive parents seem to go hand in hand - think Jelena Dokic's father, Damir, getting thrown out of Wimbledon for arguing over the price of fish - but Jones insists dedicating her life to tennis has been all her decision.
"There was no pushing me into it. I probably push myself more than anyone.
"My parents obviously want the best for me and if I ever slacked off they probably would push me. But I don't really slacken off. It comes from within."
Being blessed with parents with the financial ability to station her in Florida for her formative years hasn't hurt her chances, but it still takes a special dedication to hit tennis balls for four hours a day, six days a week.
Surely it must get a little boring?
"I've been doing this since I was 11. It is nothing new to me. It is a job. I guess it's kind of like going to high school because you want to be a doctor. You have to get good grades so you can get into medical school. For me, it is about putting in the hard yards now so when I am older I will be able to reap the rewards of being a top tennis player."
Jones' next big chance to continue her vault up the rankings will almost certainly come at January's ASB Classic.
Now with entry into the main draw and a victory or two against higher ranked players would earn valuable ranking points.
For Jones, however, the chance to make a rare appearance in front of friends and family at home in Auckland is the real attraction of the Classic.
She's certainly not fazed by the prospect. "I want to play well obviously because it is a big occasion and a big opportunity. But pressure? No, not at all."
It's that sort of attitude that has Moller believing she has what it takes to make the transition from promising junior to successful professional.
"I've worked with Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce and I still work with Australian number one Sam Stosur," says Moller.
"They are all top 30 in the world and I see just as much potential in Sacha as I see in them.
* SACHA JONES
Age: 17
Birthplace: Auckland
Height: 1.68m
Weight: 60kg
Plays: Right-handed (double-handed backhand)
Ranking: 323
Career wins: 24
Career losses: 17
