On Sunday, in Singapore, the Sydney-based junior played on the same stadium court where the younger Williams won the WTA Finals two years ago, and claimed the title of Future Stars 16-and-under champion.

It was a memorable week for Apisah, the national 16-and-under champion still playing under a Papua New Guinean passport, but with her Australian citizenship application now under way.

She received a racquet from world No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska, also met Simona Halep and Madison Keys. She left with her ambitions reaffirmed, despite feeling slightly overwhelmed by the size of the stadium court where world No.1 Angelique Kerber was scheduled as the headline act later on day one.

"It's a great opportunity to play on that court, cos all the pros have played there and that's where I want to be," Apisah said after her 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Indian Shivani Aminenia in the Asia-Pacific competition final. "I want to be No.1 in the world, but I just have to keep playing and training hard."

Among the crowd was Fed Cup captain Alicia Molik, who is upbeat about the next crop of Australian girls capable of succeeding long-time standard bearer Sam Stosur, despite the current paucity of local women – just three – in the top 250.

"She's a strong girl and she's a big hitter from the back of the court," said Molik, the former world No.8. "She has a great technique to her serve, it's a really fluid motion, and she's pretty sound off the ground as well.

"When she's a bit more explosive, she'll be better at moving up to the shorter balls. But I don't see too many holes. She's got the world ahead of her. I wasn't that good at that age, and probably neither was Sam.

"To play where the best eight players in the world are playing, to share that stage, is a pretty phenomenal experience as a junior. She definitely has the game to be a good player."