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“I think my level has always been there. It's just about putting it together at the right moments,” said Harriet Dart, after another impressive performance for Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup in November.
Indeed, the 26-year-old had previously shown glimpses of the talent that made her one of her nation’s most promising emerging players.
In 2019, as a 182nd-ranked wildcard, her profile rose with a third-round run at Wimbledon, which ended against world No.1 Ash Barty in a Centre Court clash.
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There was another strong run six months later, at Australian Open 2020, where she started in the qualifying rounds and won four straight matches before losing to Simona Halep – but only after giving the former world No.1 a second-set scare at Rod Laver Arena.
But as she noted, it was the consistency that was missing.
She drifted between the main tour and the secondary ITF circuit. For all her wins, there were a similar amount of losses.
She hovered between, roughly, 170 and 130 in the rankings for several years, unable to get the truly breakout result that would push her higher.
“Everyone can play a good match, right, but it's about week in, week out, being able to back it up,” Dart observed.
In 2022, she began doing just that.
She set the tone for a memorable year by qualifying for both the Melbourne WTA event and AO 2022, winning five of her first six matches.
At Indian Wells, she posted one of the best performances of her career, scoring her first ever win over a top-20 player in Elina Svitolina, on her way to the fourth round.
Given the points and prestige that come with such a run at a WTA 1000-level event, it was enough to elevate her inside the world’s top 100 for the first time.
"I put in the work day in, day out, and finally to be able to put a run like this together, it's not by chance,” she told the BBC after upsetting Kaia Kanepi to reach the last 16.
"I always have nothing to lose - especially at these events. It's kind of a bonus to be able to play another match in this amazing place. It's quite surreal. I'm enjoying every minute of it."
Confidence buoyed, she reached her first career tour-level quarterfinals, in her home country; notable wins over Donna Vekic, Camila Giorgi, Jil Teichmann and Marta Kostyuk helped her into the last eight at both Nottingham and Eastbourne.
She peaked at world No.84 in July, and her first top-10 win followed a month later.
That was when she stunned Daria Kasatkina – the world No.9 who had won recent titles in San Jose and Granby – in the first round of the US Open.
“There is incredible strength and depth across women's tennis. Every single match you have to be ready. Everyone is playing a great level,” Dart reflected.
“I think that for me has been a really big stepping point in terms of the consistency of holding the level but also physically being in a really good place to be able to, the next day, not feel the body or anything but be able to keep going, keep going, keep going.”
Keep going she did.
And perhaps nowhere did Dart thrive more than in the team setting of Billie Jean King Cup.
Representing her nation as its No.1 player at the finals in November, a time of year at which many players feel the strain and grind of a lengthy season, Dart played well above her ranking.
She stunned world No.13 Paula Badosa – the second best win of her career, by ranking – and Ajla Tomljanovic in memorable performances as Great Britain finished semfinalists.
She almost repeated the feat against Badosa when representing Team GB at the United Cup earlier this month, a sign the belief she accrued in 2022 has carried over.
“For sure this has definitely given me a lot of confidence going into next year,” she said of those Billie Jean King Cup results in November.
“To be able to two days ago play great and then do it again also shows me that it's not by chance. It's the continued work. Keep plugging away and good things can happen.
“You know you're going to have ups and downs through the year, and it's just about remaining positive and having a really good outlook long term and a plan.
“I feel like I have gained yards with that this year.”
She opens her Australian Open 2023 campaign against 32nd seed Teichmann.