“You don’t freak out, but it is a bit concerning,” she said. “But you just have to live with the injuries, it’s part of sport. You just have to keep taking care of yourself but I think it’s only early season soreness.”

Mirza’s best Grand Slam showing was a fourth round appearance at the US Open in 2005 and she has never been beyond round three in three visits to Melbourne Park. “Most probably I will be seeded, which is a good thing. You don’t meet one of the big players in the first or second rounds which is obviously good,” she said.

To achieve a place in the top 20, though, Mirza said she would need to become more consistent. “Every step gets bigger.”

“Not in terms of just playing, it’s not about the way you play. It’s really not about the ranking, it’s about consistency and being able to do it over and over again, week in, week out.”

Mirza’s popularity in India rivals that of the cricketers. The 21-year-old, however, said that she and the cricketers did not compare notes on dealing with expectations. “You’re a sportsman, so you almost have this respect for each other, naturally, and you kind of know what each other’s going through,” she said. “But we meet like two normal people. We don’t say, ‘what’s the pressure like for you?’. I always say they are 11 and I am one, they can always blame the other person.”