As early-season progress reports go, Clara Tauson’s first three months have been near-perfection: five tournaments played, five tournaments won.

The Danish 16-year-old began 2019 in spectacular fashion, following up her J1 Traralgon triumph by claiming the Australian Open girls’ singles title in January to extend her unbeaten streak in the ITF Junior ranks to 13 matches.

And she hasn’t stopped there. Over the subsequent two months Tauson has collected three ITF World Tennis Tour crowns, winning W15 events in Monastir, Tunisia, and Xiamen, China – entered using the Junior Reserved places introduced for the 2019 season – either side of the biggest professional title of her fledgling career, the W60 Shenzhen event, where she entered with a Junior Exempt spot.

Installed as the junior world No. 1 since her victory at Melbourne Park, Tauson has also shot up from a year-end WTA ranking of No. 863 to this week’s career-high No. 407, and No. 262 in the ITF standings, while also representing Denmark in Fed Cup in February.

“So far 2019 has been an amazing year for me,” Tauson said. “First I won two junior tournaments in Australia and now I am very grateful and happy that I have been able to win three in a row in Tunisia and China.”

Asked for her highlight of the first three months of 2019, she said: “All tournament victories are special in my opinion. However, winning Australian Open, a Grand Slam, is particularly special to me, as I have dreamt about winning a slam since I was a little girl.

“Becoming No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings is also special. But the tournament in Shenzhen was naturally my first real challenge on a professional level.”

With 28 consecutive wins in tournament play across Junior and World Tennis Tour events, and 15 in a row since her Fed Cup exploits, Tauson appears to be enjoying a seamless transition into her professional career – but she admits there has been a learning curve against a new calibre of opponent.

“I have not played that many pro tournaments yet, so I am not in any way an expert in valuation of this,” she said. “However, there is a big difference in experience between the juniors and pros.

“From a physical perspective, you are competing with players who have played for years in pro tournaments. It is good for my development, as I learn a lot day by day being pushed by strong and experienced players.”

For all her recent success, Tauson knows she still has work to do to be prepared for the upper reaches of the women’s game, and as the daughter of a tennis coach, that suits her work ethic just fine.

“My goal for this season is mainly to improve my tennis skills on all levels,” said Tauson, who is not targeting a specific ranking goal this season. “There is always something to improve in tennis, and training is super fun.

“I hope to play a lot of pro tournaments at a higher level to find out how far I am in my tennis development, and where specifically I need to improve in order to compete.”

Having claimed all five of her titles on outdoor hard courts so far in 2019, some players might be keen to stick with a surface while enjoying such success. But Tauson is looking forward to the imminent switch to clay – a surface that suits her game, and brings back fond memories.

“I find clay court tennis really interesting,” Tauson said. “I like to build the points making use of the court's full dimensions. And I really enjoy spending time on a clay court during the summer.

“Clay tennis is synonymous with summer in Denmark and most of Europe. It brings back a lot of memories for me spending a lot of hours with my family and friends on courts throughout Europe in summertime when I was younger.”

Tauson’s success certainly isn’t going unnoticed in her native land – having been named her nation’s best junior player for the past three years, she was also nominated as Denmark’s 2018 Olympic Hope by national TV station DK1 before heading to Australia at the start of the year.

But the teen’s growing profile hasn’t changed her post-win celebration ritual just yet.

“I haven't received a special reward for my 2019 success, besides the fact I treat myself to a scoop of ice cream after every victory,” she admitted. “That is a big reward!”