1169 days ago, Ash Barty trudged off Adelaide Oval No.2 having been stuck in front off the bowling of Sarah Coyte for 3.
Over three years later, Barty revelled in the biggest day of her sporting career so far as she sealed the Miami Open title.
Bouncing from tennis to cricket, and back to tennis, has rejuvenated Barty in ways perhaps she didn't even see coming.
This time two years ago Barty was ranked 87th, but in the space of a year, she had vaulted to 18th. During her run to the Miami crown, she guaranteed entry into the top 10.
BARTY PARTY: Barty reflects on 'beautiful' journey after Miami triumph | Barty downs Pliskova for biggest win of career
She'll bag US$1.35 million for the Miami title - heading to the tournament, she had US$5,732,958 total prize money.
In the space of two weeks, she has earned a fifth of her entire career prize money, and will rise to No. 9 in the rankings.
Barty beat three top 10 seeded players en route to the Miami title - Kiki Bertens (7), Petra Kvitova (3) and Karolina Pliskova (5).
Wow!
— WTA (@WTA) March 30, 2019
What a performance from @ashbar96 - the 2019 @miamiopen champion!
Beats Pliskova 7-6(1), 6-3!#miamiopen pic.twitter.com/lskzDmfNO2
The Aussie's win-loss record in 2019 is now 18-3, with two of those losses coming to Kvitova (Sydney and Melbourne) and the other in the Indian Wells round of 16 to eventual semi-finalist Elina Svitolina.
In 2019, Barty is 5-3 against top 10 players, and 2-0 against top 5 players.
If we're talking raw form, the proof is in the pudding - Barty has reached the final eight or better at five of her past six events, and she has won 25 of her last 30 matches.
After the win, Barty reflected on her "beautiful" time back in tennis following her hiatus and switch to cricket.
The 22-year-old also revealed that her "turning point" came during last year's Wimbledon tournament, where she reached the third round before she made the final 16 at the US Open.
There, at Flushing Meadows, she also combined with CoCo Vandeweghe to win her first major title after losing four previous doubles finals at Slam level.
She also won the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, beating local hope Wang Qiang in straight sets.
🏆 #4 pic.twitter.com/F6VTQjafYx
— Ash Barty (@ashbar96) March 30, 2019
Losing her second straight Sydney final hurt, and again going down to good mate Kvitova in the quarters in Melbourne stung.
However, as she led her country to Fed Cup success in the US last month, Barty proved her indispensable worth to Australian tennis, dominating her singles and doubles ties.
Through it all, after initially losing the spark for tennis before her hiatus three years ago, Barty said she has truly found her calling.
"I think the best thing is I do feel like I belong on this tour. I feel like when I play my best, I’m good enough to match it with the very best in the world," she said.
"I just need to keep giving myself the opportunity to challenge myself and play against the best in the world.
"Some days it will go in your favour and some days it won't. I think the challenge and the beauty is to just keep going and putting one foot in front of the other and enjoying the journey."
