The 25-year-old is seeking to become the first Australian to compete at both an Olympics and a Paralympics. Internationally, about a dozen others have done so, including one of her Polish rivals, regular double-upper Natalia Partyka, as well, of course, as the disgraced South African formerly known as the Blade Runner. Not an Australian, though. Not yet.

Having finished a frustrating fourth in singles at the 2012 London Paralympics, Tapper says she is "working towards a gold in the Paras" in Rio. But, before that, the VIS athlete's dream is of a debut among the "able-bods" – to get with the jargon – at the Olympic Games, where just to qualify and compete at her very best would almost be reward enough.

"Obviously, the level and standard is much higher, but at the same time I guess my [class 10, the lowest] disability is not an overly large one in terms of restricting me," says Tapper. "Especially in a sport that does require a lot of skill and quite a lot of heart, I definitely do think I have what it takes, and at the end of the day they still have to beat me as much as I've got to beat them."

Tapper grew up in Hamilton in south-west Victoria, the nerves in her right shoulder a casualty of childbirth. "I was 11 pounds, two [ounces], so I was quite large," she smiles. It was a natural birth. A difficult one. Young Melissa was stuck, eventually yanked out, damaged.

"At three or four months old they took nerves out of the back of both my legs, and they were joined into the ones that were torn in my shoulder, and that enabled me to be able to lift my arm up and use it, whereas originally it was just hanging there and had no use. So that was a huge improvement for me, because I can use it, but I can't have full use, and it stopped growing years and years ago."

None of which halted Tapper, who is most affected now – "although I can't say for certain, because obviously I don't know anything else" – by a general lack of strength, control and stability, and specifically on a service toss she is only able to cup and throw, with sometimes wildly inconsistent results.

The silver lining is that the need to plan for such a crazy variance means the 2014 Commonwealth Games teams bronze medallist has worked so hard on adapting to the result that she says modestly, "I'd be pretty confident in saying I have one of the best female serves in Australia now because of it".

Before her sporting endeavours got serious, Tapper's rural childhood environment was also more about what you wanted to do than what you couldn't. "I was the only person I knew that had a disability, even though I didn't even really know I had a disability," says Tapper, now married to 2000 Olympian Simon Gerada. "My friends treated me exactly the same as anyone else, I wanted to do what everyone was doing, and if there was something I couldn't do, I was just that determined to go home and just practice, practice, practice, until I could do it.

"Occasionally there were things that would pop up that were a bit difficult, but my friends would all just know and come in and help. Other than that I've never seen myself as having a disability; whatever it is I always know I can find a way through it. It might just take me longer, or I might have to do it a bit differently, it can sometimes look a bit funny, but I can still get the same outcome."

Thus the reluctance about migrating to what had never been Tapper's natural habitat. Young Milly was first approached to play Para-table tennis when she was 14. Her response: why would I go with the 'Paras' when I'm happy, and winning? Anyway, I'm not disabled. I'm completely fine.

About five years later, the Paralympic Committee called again. Play a tournament. Just one, and then we'll be happy with whatever you decide. "I'm really, really stoked that they did keep pushing for me," says Tapper, who duly contested an event in Jordan five or six years ago.

"It was the biggest eye-opener in terms of what Paralympic sport was about, and just really how amazing it was," she says. "Just seeing other athletes from around the world – some had a leg missing and both arms and they were still able to play table tennis. For me that was just insane. I got to see what real, raw, pure sport was, and I think that's what I really liked. So once I'd been there I was hooked. I was in."

And now the idea is to come full circle: back to where she started, while also remaining where she is, and going to where no Australian Paralympian has been before. As the dream result inches closer, the two-part Olympic qualification process starts in February, and Tapper is currently ranked in the top three. How many, we ask, go to Rio? Smile. "Three".​