A dazzling run to a maiden Grand Slam final was meant to be the launchpad to bigger and better for then-teenage Marketa Vondrousova.
The self-effacing Czech under the sharp-pitched visor had just been humbled in the Roland Garros decider in June, 2019.
A first-time major champion was assured and on that blustery Paris afternoon, it was to be the more experienced Ash Barty’s moment.
"It’s gonna be strange, because I’m going to be seeded at Grand Slams," Vondrousova beamed at the time. "A lot of things are gonna change now, but I just can't wait to get back home and see what's gonna happen."
Unfortunately for the Czech there was plenty about to change in the ensuing 18 months, trials that would test any athlete’s resolve.
On Friday, the now 21-year-old reached the second week at a major for the first time since her watershed moment on the red clay in Paris with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Sorana Cirstea at the Australian Open.
It has been a testing stretch between the two runs.
Defeat at Wimbledon a month after her breakthrough Roland Garros in 2019 ended up Vondrousova’s last match of the season.
A left wrist injury suffered during that defeat required surgery and she missed the remainder of the season.
“I started here in Australia last year after the surgery and I played just a few matches and I lost in the first round here, also the first round in Doha, then second round in Dubai,” Vondrousova said on Friday. “And then the pandemic happened, so I didn't play very [many] matches.
“We had some matches in Czech Republic, but it's not the same. We started to play tournaments again and I lost a few first rounds ... Then I was struggling a bit.
“Last year was very tough I think for all of us. I'm just the type that needs matches and I didn't have a lot of them last year.”
If surgery, a pandemic and an uphill battle to rediscover form were not enough to juggle, Vondrousova decided it was time to shake things up in the coaching department.
Having previously worked under Czech pair Jiri Hrebec and Jan Hernych, she made the switch to another Czech, Libor Salaba.
“He's pretty young, he's like 28 or 29, so we know each other for four years. I know him pretty well and I knew it can work for me here.
"Also we understand each other, off court and on court … Of course it's nice for me to have this back-up that I'm playing good and I can see like it's working pretty well.”
Should she stamp her ticket to a second Grand Slam quarterfinal, the Czech will need to avenge a defeat to the crafty Hsieh Su-Wei.
The 35-year-old from Chinese Taipei prevailed in a third-set tie-break in their opening match of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Vondrousova said she had learnt from that defeat, just as she had grown from her experiences in a challenging 20-month period.
“It's not so new for me this,” she said.
“I can say, ‘OK, you did this before, you played fourth round, you played third round. I have some experience so it's nice feeling.”