Luke Littler says he "can only get better" after a "statement" victory in the third round of the World Darts Championship.
Littler produced his best ever average at Alexandra Palace with a 107.09 as he thrashed Mensur Suljovic 4-0 in barely 25 minutes of on-stage time on Saturday evening.
The 18-year-old will take on Rob Cross on Monday night, live on Your Site, and is yet to drop a set in his three matches so far.
Asked who could stop him, Littler said: "It's very difficult to decide. I'm playing well this tournament.
"The third round was my best performance. I can only get better and hopefully I can play like that again in the next match."
There were two nine-darters at this stage of the tournament last year but nobody has yet got within a dart of perfection this tie around.
Littler has thrown four nine-darters in his short professional career over the last two seasons and is eyeing up his first at the World Championship, bringing up the prospect when discussing his 100-per-cent winning set record so far in this tournament.
"Not losing a set is always a good thing. I can get into the lead in most of the games," he said.
"But practising before the game, I went back-to-back so many times and not to do it on there [on the stage]... hopefully that nine-darter can come within the next few days."
Littler beat his next opponent Cross in each of their five Premier League meetings earlier this year but the latter did get the better of Littler in their last match - the Players Championship 24 which takes place behind closed doors.
Cross lost 6-2 at the 2024 World Darts Championship to Littler in the semi-finals but says he will enjoy being the underdog and has "nothing to lose".
"I can have no worries. He's fantastic. He comes from a lovely family but there's no pressure on me," said Cross.
"If Rob Cross loses to Luke Littler, who cares? That's the norm. I can go up there, take them shackles off and hopefully I get a good tune out of myself."
Littler, who has won six televised ranking tournaments in the last 12 months, is aiming to become the first player since Gary Anderson a decade ago to defend the world title.
His performance against Suljovic underlined his status as favourite to become world champion again and the teenager admits he's "laid down a marker".
"Probably 80 to 90 per cent of the time I won't come back here and hit 107 average because it's darts," he said.
"We don't always play this way, we don't always play high numbers and sometimes it's just about getting the job done. I think it is a statement."
Littler has a remarkable record over the longer format that's seen during the latter stages of the World Championship with best-of-seven sets in the fourth round, best-of-nine in the quarter-finals, best-of-11 in the semi-finals and best-of-13 in the final.
He has lost just one match in contests that are 20 legs and longer, and that was the 2024 World Championship final against Luke Humphries.
"Obviously people can say 'whoever plays Luke next, they're going to lose'. But this is darts, anything can happen, anyone can win or lose," said Littler
"I've just got to show up for my next game and hopefully put in another performance like the third round."
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