Two and a half years have passed since Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, or Cami to her family and friends, participated in a quiz at the ITF Junior Finals in Chengdu while dressed in an inflatable panda costume.

Much has happened since, most notably a stunning breakthrough victory at Copa Colsanitas, the WTA International event in Bogota – her nation's capital – last month, which propelled her to within touching distance of the top 100.

If that was not enough, within hours of her triumph she was on board a plane bound for Charleston. There, she dispatched then-world No. 51 Magda Linette in the first round – the highest-ranked player she has defeated in her career – before reaching the semi-finals where she fell to Australia's Astra Sharma.

Osorio Serrano is jovial, bubbly and fun by nature, but during a recent Zoom call from her family home in Cucuta on a rare and well-deserved morning off, her smile appeared wider than usual.

She beamed whenever her exploits in Bogota and Charleston were mentioned – even more than when she was reminded of the panda costume incident – and why not? She has every reason to be hugely satisfied.

With the 19-year-old former US Open girls' champion now ranked No. 118 in the world, talk soon turned to the next steps in her career and the potential to mix it on the biggest of stages on a regular basis. However, should a Grand Slam main draw debut materialise in the coming months, do not expect many dry eyes. 

"My dad always says that I must be professional in interviews and I cannot say this, but if I win a match at a Grand Slam or I am just there, I will probably cry," Osorio Serrano told itftennis.com.

"It is something you dream about when you're really little and it feels far, far, far away but it is now a bit closer. When I was playing juniors at Wimbledon, I was crying as I was going to the court, so I will probably cry if I get there in pros.

"I really want to be there and the top 100 is the next target. I really want to get there so I can play the Grand Slams, which is one of my biggest dreams. The top 100 is my goal now."

Osorio Serrano is nothing if not passionate, something which she attributes to her Colombian roots and Latin heritage. The emotions she mentions were evident in Bogota as Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek crashed a forehand return into the net to hand her rival a maiden Tour-level title on just her fourth main draw appearance at a WTA event. 

"The match point, I was so nervous," she said. "I almost couldn't serve because I was so nervous.

"I remember after the match point, the emotions came to me because you remember all the hard work. You work every day to achieve these type of things and that feeling of winning, I just couldn't believe it. 

"I feel like I have made one of my dreams come true by winning a title and I hope this is just the beginning. I have been so happy the past three weeks because I couldn't believe I won. It was really special and so important.

"Not long ago, I was No. 180 in the rankings and knew I had to win a big tournament to push towards the top 100. To do it at home with my family, friends and my people there, was so special."

Also immensely special was the congratulatory Twitter message she received from 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the aftermath of her success in Bogota. 

Factor in the level of coverage – her family and friends claimed she was rarely off Colombian television during her run at Charleston – and no wonder Osorio Serrano describes the last few weeks as "fun". 

But despite riding the crest of a wave at present, the former junior world No. 1 is fully appreciative of how much graft and determination has been required to get to this point. 

Even now, while still a teenager and within the early stages of her professional career, Osorio Serrano has eyes on being a figurehead for South American tennis and one story from the last few weeks echoes that. 

"When I was nine years old I was at Copa Colsanitas and [former world No. 66] Mariana Duque-Marino won the tournament," she said. "I was with my auntie and she was taking me everywhere to get a picture with her. 

"I was talking with my parents recently and apparently after getting that picture I said, 'I am going to win that tournament when I am bigger'. I don't remember saying that but apparently I did.

"The other week, I saw this kid in Bogota and before the tournament he was following me around the courts and asked for an autograph and picture, and I had a little hit with him.

"He was so happy and I just remembered that 10 years ago that was me asking for an autograph. It is super nice to think that maybe I am able to inspire kids just as Mariana did in that moment with me. 

"Hopefully in Colombia we can have more tennis players who go pro and go big. Same in South America generally, there are many fighting to get there, hopefully more can."

Key to her own progression and development has been the $25,000 ITF-administered Grand Slam Development Fund player grant she received in 2020, which followed ITF International Junior Player Grants in 2018 and 2019 and places on several Touring Teams. 

Such assistance is not something which Osorio Serrano, who twice appeared at the ITF Junior Finals in Chengdu and finished runner-up to Clara Burel in 2018, takes for granted, rather something for which she is extremely thankful. 

"It was so very important and I was very grateful for that," said Osorio Serrano, who made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Colombia in 2016. "Being from here, you don't have so many chances or opportunities to travel or have a good coach. 

"I live in Cucuta, so I don't have so many people around that I can play with and so I have to go to other places so I can train and I really needed that help. 

"It meant that I could have all the things that I wanted, like my team, and I could travel with less worries. These grants have helped me improve my tennis and my career, and helped in my transition from a junior to a professional. 

"I feel the grants have helped me achieve all the things I am achieving right now. It's because of that I am here now."

Of course, grants of this nature are a helping hand and not the sole reason for any player's ascent, Osorio Serrano's included, with attitude, hard work and talent integral to any winning formula. 

Yet while she claims to have tempered her in-game intensity, perhaps the level of fight it has taken to arrive at this point has, at times, been reflected in Osorio Serrano's on-court persona.

"I am Latin and Colombian and everything we do is with heart," she said. "It doesn't matter what it is, whether in sport or in life, we do it with all our heart and want to do it as good as possible. 

"We are always fighting and always trying to win. But compared to before I am a little bit more mature on court and I am not doing dumb things.

"I have been working hard and feel more solid and secure. As I say, my emotions are a bit more mature because I don't feel the need to do some of the things I used to. 

"My coach [Ricardo Sanchez] is also saying that I am more calm and don't get mad a lot now. I breathe a little more and think about what to do and find a solution rather than get mad because I lost the point."

If her last few tournaments are anything to go by, whatever modifications Osorio Serrano has made they are hitting the right notes – in fact, she has been pretty much pitch perfect.