Heather Watson doesn't drink champagne but she might have been tempted to break her rule after she won her second career WTA title with victory in the Hobart International.
The Briton's 6-3, 6-4 win over American qualifier Madison Brengle will move her to a career-high ranking of 38 when the list is updated tomorrow.
"Is that official?" Watson asked. "We'll see. I never like to guess because if it's not then I won't be as happy. I'm just going to pretend it will be, like, 45. When it is 38 I'll be really happy."
Victory over Brengle was the perfect end to a perfect week for Watson, during which she racked up wins over Sloane Stephens and Roberta Vinci.
"I feel so fit and healthy. I think it's really showed in my matches this week," she said. "I haven't got really sore or tired in any of them. I'd say today was probably the most difficult. We had a lot of long, close points and games and I was able to come out on top even when it did get really physical."
The first title win is usually the sweetest but the 22-year-old said her second was just as good.
"I was just overwhelmed when I won my first title and so, so happy to win it," she said of her win in Osaka in 2012. "This one felt more like I belonged here. I really believed and backed myself to win it. A lot of players are very consistent and go deep into tournaments but never actually clear that final hurdle."
Watson will begin her Australian Open campaign in great heart but faces a tough test in round one against Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, a former semi-finalist at Wimbledon. The pair are tied at 2-2 in their previous meetings but Watson won the most recent in Eastbourne last summer and believes her form and confidence can see her through.
"We always have really good, competitive long matches," she said. "It won't be easy. I really look forward to it and I've already got my game plan sorted out."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article