The promising 15-year-old was selected for the Otago senior team earlier this year and experienced what it was like to make a dramatic step up in class.
The year 11 Otago Girls' High School pupil will pit her skills against older and more experienced opponents again when she competes in the Southern Junior Indoor Tennis Open which is being staged at the Edgar Centre during the next three days.
The tier two event has attracted 114 competitors and there are six age group categories, ranging from under-9 to under-18.
The boys under-14 category is arguably he most exciting grade, where local hopes Michael Gealogo and Thomas Hartono shape as strong contenders.
Otago Open champions Mitchell Sizemore and Rileigh Fields are competing in the boys under-18 and girls under-18 categories and are expected to do well.
Ilana will contest the girls under-16 grade and will face stiff competition.
Ilana has just moved to an S7 ranking but most of the players in her grade outrank her considerably.
She hopes her serve-and-volley game will surprise a few of her opponents but mostly she is looking forward to learning from better players.
"I'm hoping to challenge some of the players and give them some tough matches,'' she said.
"I want to show them what I'm made of but, what can I say, it is great opportunity for me to see where I need to be.
"The only way you are going to learn is to play people like this and I really want to improve and get to a really high level.''
Ilana moved to New Zealand with her family from Belgium eight years ago.
She started playing tennis when she was 9 and competing when she was 10.
She played in her first Otago junior tournament in 2012 when she was 11 and earlier this year represented the Otago senior team at a tournament in Christchurch.
"I was very lucky to get selected to go up there,'' she said.
"It was a really good opportunity for me. Everyone I played there was older than me and all ranked much higher than me.''
Ilana's goal is to secure a scholarship with a college in the United States and just see how far she can progress.
The Southern Junior Indoor Tennis Open is part of the Junior Masters points race for the season and players are coming from throughout New Zealand.
The Grant family from Auckland is sending four siblings - Christoph, Jordy, Ariella and Petra - so there will be a bit of a family feel to the tournament.
