If you asked most people what the life of a tennis player was like, I bet you the word ‘glamorous’ would be one of the first things they thought of.

It might be like that for players like Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams but for most of us the day-to-day life on the road is not like that and the lower down the rankings you are, the fewer frills there are.

It is one of the reasons why I am so pleased that my ranking is getting higher. Obviously I have a huge sense of achievement that I am now ranked inside the world’s top 100 but it also makes a huge difference to your quality of life.

Now that I am ranked higher I am going to be playing more and more events on the main WTA Tour and playing those tournaments and at the grand slams makes you feel like you are part of the elite in every way. You get ballkids and a full quota of linespeople and people watching, whereas you don’t at lots of the lower-tier tournaments.

Off court it’s a different story too. Hospitality is paid for as long as you are in the tournament and that usually means 4- and 5-star hotels where everything is thought of for you – and the rooms don’t smell of old Chinese take-aways like the room I stayed in this week in St Raphael!

It wasn’t my worst hotel experience, though. That happened in France, where I walked into my room for the first time and found it covered in blood and stinking of booze. I’ve no idea what happened in there but I didn’t hang around to find out.

Everything is just easier at the bigger, more prestigious events. When you are ready to leave, you climb into the courtesy car and off you go. When you are playing events at the level that I’m used to, there might be a shuttle bus to and from the club where you are playing every couple of hours if you are lucky. Those events are run by some fantastic people but they just don’t have the resources to treat everyone like superstars and in some ways it’s important that there is a hierarchy because that’s what makes tennis tick.

There should be a reward for working hard, playing well and getting the results and the thought of playing more WTA Tour events is a massive motivator to keep getting better. Thanks to a good week in St Raphael, where I made the semi-finals before a sore knee affected me against Sandra Zahlavova on Saturday, my ranking is now in the low 80s and I still have a few more tournaments to pick up points before the end of the season. I will rest the knee this week and then I’m still hoping to play my next scheduled event in Tapei if its better. If not then I will rest more before playing in Bratislava, Japan and the Czech Republic to round off my season.

Breaking into the top 100 was a big goal but I know that’s it’s just the start. My current ranking gets me direct entry into the main draw of the Australian Open in January but there are no guarantees beyond that. I could lose to Sharapova in the first round and if that happens I will drop ranking points and find myself taking a big step backwards. Every ranking point I pick up between now and the start of the Australian Open is like insurance against that happening. I want to give myself a cushion so that I can go to Australia and play without too much pressure.

I’m very excited about what lies ahead and everything that comes with it.

n Elena Baltacha is part of Team AEGON, the elite squad of British tennis players.