The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Brisbane

She may still be only 19 but Bulgaria's Sesil Karatantcheva said she felt like a grandmother as she reached the second round of the Brisbane International Monday.

Karatantcheva's 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Czech Iveta Benesova is her best result since returning to the tour in 2008 after serving a two-year ban for testing positive for the steroid Nandrolone.

The Bulgarian, now ranked 158 in the world, had to win through three rounds of qualifying just to make the main draw in Brisbane, but now finds herself playing Belarussian Olga Govortsova for a place in the quarter-finals.

The colourful Karatantcheva has never been shy of speaking her mind and she could barely contain her excitement after her win over Benesova.

She said every match she played was an enjoyable one, win or lose.

"Because I haven't played for two years everything now is a good resultt every win is a good win and every loss is just'I'm so happy about it because I'm playing tennis'," she said.

Karatantcheva, who beat Venus Williams on her way to the French Open quarter-finals as a 15-year-old, said she was relishing being back on the tour.

"You kind of realise what you have once you lose it," she said.

"I kind of took it for granted, you know the tournaments and everything, then once you stop travelling you have to face a reality that I can't do this any more-I was lucky that I was so young."

She said she had learned from her mistakes, adding that time away from tennis had changed her for the better.

"It was just a good experience, you definitely learn a lot, you grow up and you kind of see a different world than tennis.

"It helped me.

"I'm kind of wild sometimes and say what I think, but there comes a period where you just kind of know what's right and what's not."

While she reached a career-high ranking of 35, Karatantcheva has never played many of the women now on the tour.

"As much as I feel like a rookie, I feel like a grandmother on tour-you know, seeing all these 14- and 15- year-olds coming," she said.

"I remember when I was 14, 15 -- they probably think I'm slow and old.

"But I still have some time left."