France's Alize Cornet believes she could be on the brink of finding the consistency that has long evaded her after booking a spot in the Brisbane International semi-finals.
The only unseeded women's player left in the singles draw, Cornet will face French Open champion Garbine Muguruza for a spot in the women's decider after each won their quarter-final match-ups on Thursday.
Cornet upset No.2 seed Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 7-5 at Pat Rafter Arena - her second high-profile scalp after ousting seventh seed Elena Vesnina in the opening round.
World No.41 Cornet was made to work for it by the Slovakian, who clawed back from 2-5 down in the second set, but the 26-year-old from Nice needed only one match point to clinch victory.
Best known for beating Serena Williams three times in 2014, Cornet hopes it is the start of things to come.
"If I play this level, the whole year, I believe I'll be probably sitting (in a good position) next year here in Brisbane. At least I hope so," she said.
"I always had a lack of consistency during my career, and maybe the fact that I'm 26, I'm a little bit older now, I have more experience, and I feel like maybe I'm touching something during this week of Brisbane.
"Emotionally, I handle my emotions much better. And I think that's how I got some really great victories here.
Muguruza took nearly two hours to dispense of Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, winning 7-5 6-4.
Coming back from 1-4 down in the first set, the Spaniard also failed to convert two set points at 4-5, but recovered strongly to stay on course for her first WTA final since her win at last year's French Open.
Muguruza has spent nearly eight hours on court in total after tough three-set wins over Samantha Stosur and Daria Kasatkina earlier in the tournament.
"The matches I'm playing here, the more hours I spend, especially at this level, ... it's going to help me," she said.
"Doesn't matter (just) for Australia. It's going to help me for the year in general.
"I know with Cornet it is going to be a battle, a fighter, so I expect another tough match."
Czech world No.6 Karolina Pliskova will feature in the other semi-final after fighting back to beat Italian Roberta Vinci 3-6 6-2 6-2.
