Success came quickly for Tamira Paszek after she made her initial breakthrough on the ITF World Tennis Tour, but the Austrian is being made to fight a little harder for moments of glory second time around.

Roll the clock back 19 years and a teenage Paszek made a big impression in her first ITF tournament, coming through qualifying and making it through to the semi-finals of a 10k event in Athens, Greece.

In her second event as a professional, Paszek emerged through qualifying once again and collected her first title in a 25k tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Those wins confirmed to young Tamira that she belonged on the professional stage and by 2007, she had broken into the top 50 of the WTA rankings and went on to make the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2012. She also won three titles on the WTA Tour, including the prestigious grass court title at Eastbourne.

Injuries and illness derailed Paszek's career and after she underwent sinus and tonsil surgery in 2016 after suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, a nerve inflammation condition that affects the face, she faced a long road back.

Having reached the top of the game and earned prize money in excess of $2.5million, Paszek could have walked away from tennis and pursued a different path for the next phase of her life, but her passion for tennis never waned.

She is determined to drain every last shot out of a sport she loves, with that passion confirmed as Paszek has been a regular competitor in ITF World Tennis Tour events over the last few years.

Having experienced life on the ITF Tour in two separate phases, she has been impressed by the huge development of tournaments, prize money and facilities for players since her formative days almost two decades ago.

"There have been good changes on the ITF Tour and it's great to see the progress that has been made," begins Paszek. "The prize money has improved so much and every tournament is so much more competitive.

"We have great players lower down in the rankings now. When I started, if you played someone outside of the top 200 or 300, you knew you were going to be fine, but that is not the case any more.

"It was just a whole different level. The gap between players in the top 200 and the rest was just so big when I first came through, but it's different now. You can play someone ranked 800 and they are playing great tennis.

"Also it's great that we have a lot more tournaments on the ITF Tour and it means you don't have to play week in, week out. We hear the top players talking about the season being too long, but I can see the problem.

"You might want to take a week off, but other players are collecting points if you don't play and that puts you under pressure.

"I also feel the world has changed from where it was 10 or 15 years ago. Everything has become fast moving and there is no time for anyone to stop. We all feel like we need to be going all the time."

Paszek has fond memories of her first ITF Tour win in Sofia in September 2005, where she beat Germany's Kristina Barrois in the final.

Almost two decades later, her most recent tournament success arrived at W35 Le Gosier in Guadeloupe in January, as she reveled in that title-winning moment once again.

"Things happened quickly for me because the first ITF tournament I won was a 25k in Bulgaria was only the second ITF tournament that I ever played," she reflects.

"When you start and you are winning, everything feels light and easy. You don't really think about anything. I remember having a great routine, seeing the massage therapist every day and trying to be super professional. I was there with my first coach, who was Bulgarian. We stayed at his flat in Sofia and my Dad was there as well and there are good memories. It was an amazing experience.

"Before that, I had got my first ranking point in my first tournament, a 10k in Athens. I qualified and made the semis, but that wasn't what I was thinking too much about. I was enjoying being a professional so much that was all I wanted to do.

"Things are different for me this time. What happened at the start for me is I made it onto the WTA Tour right away. I played a few ITF events and quickly I got into the top 50 and I was playing the main tour. Now I have experienced the other road and it is a big challenge for me to see where I can go on this one last push.

"That's why the win in Guadeloupe meant so much to me at the start of this year. My back was hurting in the first round of the tournament, but I kept going and ended up winning, which was so rewarding."

Paszek admits her desire to fight on has been tested amid some disappointing defeats, but it is clear that this 33-year-old is determined to press for more glory.

"Finding yourself at a 15K qualifying event and losing to younger players when you have had the experiences I had in my career is not easy, but it makes you understand how players I beat felt when I was the youngster coming through and winning," said Paszek.

"I still love tennis and that's why I'm still playing, but it's so competitive now. You don't know how you will be physically against a player who may be 10 or even 15 years younger and when they are playing against someone like me, they have nothing to lose. It's extra motivation for them to beat a player who has played at the top level.

"For me now, I'm at the opposite end of my career, I am nearer the end. Obviously, I still feel like I have something to give and that's why I'm still playing, but it's tough to go through the defeats and still find the motivation and the inner strength to keep going.

"There have been many times when I have been close to giving up. I would not be honest if I didn't admit that, but I'm someone who has never given up on a dream. I'm super stubborn - that's another reason why I have kept going and kept believing."

Paszek's victory in Guadeloupe last January will inspire her to believe 2025 could be her year to reach out for a final burst of glory.