Five years ago Anastasija Sevastova was retired from professional tennis, having bowed out of the sport after a string of persistent and frustrating injuries.
In May 2013, when she called it quits, it would have been difficult to imagine the scene on Tuesday when she upset defending US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-2 6-3 to reach her first grand slam semi-final.
Her reward is a showdown with six-times US Open champion Serena Williams in Arthur Ashe Stadium for a spot in Saturday's title decider.
It marked the latest chapter in Sevastova's remarkable career comeback - returning to the game in January 2015.
"It was an amazing journey this three, four years," she told reporters after the match, a repeat of last month's Canadian Open semi which Stephens won in straight sets.
In 2016, Sevastova stunned experts and players alike at Flushing Meadows when she beat Garbine Muguruza and Johanna Konta on her way to the quarter-finals.
She reached the US Open last eight again in 2017, losing to eventual champion Stephens.
This year the 28-year-old Latvian won the WTA's Bucharest Open.
Sevastova said the rigours of the tournament at Flushing Meadows have not given her a moment to consider the long odds she overcame to regain her competitive form.
"You think, 'Oh, but in the end it's amazing, yeah?' You can't believe," she said..
"So after I stop at some point I will look at it and I will be proud of myself, for sure."
Sevastova, who will move up to at least world No.16 after the US Open, said she did not have many goals when she returned to tennis.
"I was thinking, OK, maybe a couple of years, play top 100. Enjoy the game," she said.
"But now, obviously when you win more, you have higher goals.
"And when you're, like, winning a tournament, you think that's normal.
"I can win it maybe next week again."
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