She has ditched the psychologist, taken full accountability and now women's tennis' most unfulfilled talent is one tantalising win away from finally becoming a grand slam singles champion.
Aryna Sabalenka's transformation from temperamental under-achiever to Australian Open finalist has been nothing less than extraordinary.
A year after coughing up 19 double-faults in one match at Melbourne Park, the sport's most erratic server will play Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina for the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup on Saturday night.
"I'm just super happy right now," Sabalenka said.
A loser of three previous grand slam semi-finals and racking up a tour-topping 428 double-faults in 2022, the Belarusian decided to dispense with her psychologist in the pre-season.
Sabalenka has not dropped a match or a set in her 10 matches since, marching to the Adelaide International title and through the Melbourne Park draw playing like the woman on a mission that she is.
"I feel like I have to deal with that by myself because every time hoping that someone will fix my problem, it's not fixing my problem," Sabalenka said of her infamous serving yips.
"I just have to take this responsibility and I just have to deal with that. I'm not working with psychologist any more. I'm my psychologist."
Also more in control of her emotions, Sabalenka will not try to suppress the inevitable nerves before her maiden major final, believing it is best to just roll with it.
"It's OK to feel a little bit nervous. It's a big tournament, big final," she said.
"If you're going to start trying to do something about that, it's going to become bigger, you know?
"I'll just leave it like that. It's OK to feel nervous."
Much has been made of Sabalenka's ability to turn her unreliable serving into a deadly weapon, with the fourth seed crunching down 29 aces and the third-fastest delivery of the tournament - third in both departments behind the benchmark Rybakina.
But Sabalenka insists she has taken strides in all parts of her big game.
"My movement is a little bit better. I got a little bit better touch. I worked a lot on everything. All aspects of my game is improved a little bit," she said.
Banned from Wimbledon last year, along with Russian players, because of Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, Sabalenka did not watch as Rybakina broke through to claim her first grand slam title at the All England Club.
"I was feeling really bad about that, and I didn't watch Wimbledon at all," the 24-year-old said.
She knows, though, her Russian-born Kazakh opponent will be a more formidable foe than in the pair's previous three matches - all of which Sabalenka has won in three sets.
In addition to a fourth-round elimination of world No.1 Iga Swiatek, the 23-year-old Rybakina has removed fellow grand slam champions Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Ostapenko and last year's runner-up Danielle Collins with similarly impressive victories.
"She's playing great tennis, serving well. I just have to be there and have to, again, work for it and put her under pressure," Sabalenka said.
"There is still one more match to go. It's good that I kind of break through in the semi-finals, but there is one more match to go. I just want to stay focused.
"It's a final. It's not going to be easy match. I know that I have to work for that title."
