Nikki Van Dijk has a strong memory of attending her first Bells Beach surfing classic in 1999, when she was four years old.

She still has the T-shirt signed by Layne Beachley – that year's women's winner  – and remembers Beachley picking her up when a wave rolled in.

Eighteen years later, it's Van Dijk signing autographs at Bells Beach. And while she hasn't reached No.1 like Beachley, it's within sight.

Van Dijk, 22, who has reported career earnings of more than $580,000, is touted as women's surfing's next big thing. 

It's a tough business, but she's kept her head, and was relaxed and chatty after practice on Tuesday before the competition starts on Wednesday.  

Her three-year, full-time slog on the women's pro tour is paying off and she's one of the favourites for what's now called the 2017 Rip Curl Pro. A few days ago, a friend sent her a screen shot of her World Surf League ranking and she was shocked – equal fourth with Hawaiian Carissa Moore.

It made her hungry for more success. Her 2017 goal had been to make the top five, but now anything seems possible.

Van Dijk's father taught her to surf on Phillip Island from age five, and she won the state juniors aged 12, in 2007. At 14, she debuted with a wildcard at Bells and finished ninth.

In 2011, age 15, she starred in a film, First Love, based on her and two friends' surfing-mad lives on Phillip Island.

Van Dijk won the world juniors in Bali in October 2012 and with another wildcard at Bells in 2013, she upset top-ranked Tyler Wright and Malia Manuel in the second round.

It's been onward and upward since then. But she advises fans that it's not easy.

She practises four hours a day, then there's an hour in the gym and an hour or two of yoga. She's a vegan.

She spends ages on planes, and is away nine months a year, but she's not whingeing. "It is amazing. You know, I call this my job? It's quite crazy, to just be surfing and spending my time at the beach. But we do work really hard for it."

Van Dijk is claiming a hometown advantage at Bells, where she's surfed since age eight, reckoning she's pretty good at handling those temperamental tidal swells.

Then there's the weather. She says growing up surfing in a wetsuit on Phillip Island has toughened her up compared to rivals from the Gold Coast or California.

She is keen to do well at Bells for family and friends, saying "I'm going to do whatever it takes to win," but it's said with a smile and not a mean stare.