INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - For the past year or so, five teenagers have enjoyed the Top 20 spotlight, making their names by notching upsets and winning tournaments in seemingly fearless style. A few weeks ago the first of them to graduate to the Top 10, Agnieszka Radwanska, celebrated her 20th birthday - leaving Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Alizé Cornet and Dominika Cibulkova to lead the teen charge at the very top of the sport.

But, while there is no shortage of youthful candidates to replace the talented Pole among the elite, the BNP Paribas Open may well have revealed the player most likely to do so first: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 17-year-old who, by virtue of her semifinal run at Indian Wells this past fortnight, is projected to rise from No.42 to No.27 when the rankings are next released.

A good year or two younger than some of her more famous peers, Samara, Russia-born Pavlyuchenkova, who is now based at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France, enjoyed a similarly stellar career in the juniors. In fact, the powerful 5' 9" baseliner beat none other than Wozniacki in the final of the 2006 junior Australian Open, and was runner-up to Radwanska at Roland Garros a few months later. The same year, she captured the US junior title at the expense of Austria's Tamira Paszek, and in 2007 lifted the Australian junior trophy a second time, beating US hope Madison Brengle in the final. Along the way the fan of R&B and hip hop music also collected four junior doubles Grand Slams, including the 2006 US Open with her compatriot, Alisa Kleybanova.

Such results earned Pavlyuchenkova wildcards at Moscow in 2006 and Wimbledon in 2007, however the transition to the senior ranks proved far from easy. But in 2008 Pavlyuchenkova began to demonstrate her potential as a genuine contender. Having started the season ranked No.286, her first win over a Top 20 player came over No.17 seed Cornet at Wimbledon. Afterwards, she made her Top 100 debut; two Tour quarterfinal finishes, at Palermo and Tokyo [Japan Open], plus four ITF Circuit titles saw her finish the season inside the Top 50, at No.45.

In this context, last January's Australian swing was disappointing: while the likes of Carla Suárez Navarro, Petra Kvitova and Kleybanova were making headlines, Pavlyuchenkova fell in the first round of the Australian Open to Italian veteran Tathiana Garbin - and indeed to Kvitova in the quarters at Hobart. Second round losses followed at Paris [Indoors] and Dubai - though to be fair, the Russian's vanquishers at those events were Elena Dementieva and Venus Williams.

Those tough losses clearly fortified Pavlyuchenkova's resolve to make her mark in the California desert, though.

First, she applied her favored forehand down-the-line to great effect in upsetting former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic in the second round. Showing no signs of a letdown after her stunning 64 64 win over the No.2 seed, Pavlyuchenkova pocketed the expected wins over Karin Knapp and Nuria Llagostera Vives before taking out No.7 seed Radwanska in a gritty three set quarterfinal. The breakthrough run came to an end in the semis at the hands of defending champion Ana Ivanovic, but Pavlychenkova had done enough to serve notice a new force had arrived in women's tennis.

"Before, I was nervous because I was young and just coming onto the tour," said Pavlyuchenkova of her earlier setbacks, which included winning just 14 points against Daniela Hantuchova on that Wimbledon debut. "It was something new for me. They were all stars so it was hard to play them. But against Jankovic, I went on court and I believed I could win. I know she's a very good player. But I was really focused and I knew I could do it. I was not nervous - I was just enjoying playing."

Now, the amiable Russian - self-described as funny, unusual and interesting, and never shy to voice her ambitions in press conferences - feels confident enough to reassert her claims, although perhaps with a more cautious tone.

"When I was in juniors I said I hoped I could do in seniors what I was doing in juniors - I finished as number one and won quite a few tournaments," she remembers. "Now I'm still thinking about what I said. I still believe in it and I am working hard for it. To do it this year is maybe too tough. But impossible is nothing, so I will do my best."