Not so long ago - 406 days ago, to be exact - Serena Williams was looking every bit her 32 years of age following a second-round loss to Garbine Muguruza in the 2014 French Open.
It wasn't just that Muguruza knocked out the defending champ that day. She pretty much humiliated her, winning 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes. Ice cream has lasted longer in the midday sun.
And because of the swiftness of that defeat, the conventional wisdom was that Williams was about to begin the same long, gradual decline we've witnessed in recent years from her older sister Venus, who won the last of her seven Grand Slam singles titles in 2008.
Instead, when Serena walks onto Wimbledon's Centre Court on Thursday to take on Maria Sharapova in their semifinal, we should probably begin to both realize and appreciate that we're watching the world's greatest-ever women's tennis player reach her prime at the unthinkable age of 33.
For should Williams advance from Thursday to claim her 21st Grand Slam singles title Saturday, she suddenly will stand just three back of Margaret Court's record of 24 and within one of tying Steffi Graf's 22. Moreover, while Graf lost nine times in finals, Williams' current 20-4 record in major finals matches up quite nicely with Court's 24-5 mark. And Serena arguably has faced much tougher competition than Court - including her sister, who's won two of their eight meetings in Grand Slam finals.
Take away those two defeats and Serena would be looking to pass Graf during this Wimbledon fortnight and pull within one of Court.
Just as important, a Wimbledon win would give her four straight titles in the majors and keep alive her bid to become the first woman since Graf in 1988 to win all four in the same calendar year.
And given that, why is Clairol not reviving its 1970s ad campaign, "You're not getting older, you're getting better," with Serena as its celebrity endorser?
Especially with the way she's winning lately, so often coming from behind after being left for dead. It happened earlier in this Wimbledon against Heather Watson in a three-setter. It happened Tuesday when she had to come from a set down against Victoria Azarenka, against whom she now stands 10-0 overall.
Serena Williams of the United States makes a return to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus during their singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Tuesday July 7, 2015.
Serena Williams of the United States talks to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, after defeating her in their singles match, at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Tuesday July 7, 2015. Williams won 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. "It's been up and down, up and down, but somehow I'm still alive," Williams said. "I don't know how."
Others do. By stats alone, it was her unrelenting pressure in the final set, when she dialed up nine of her 17 aces in the match and hit 18 winners to just five for Azarenka.
But there's something else that both Williams sisters always have been better at than most, and that's an overwhelming will to win. Especially Serena. She doesn't just get sharper as a match reaches its peak. She becomes more aggressive, attacking more lines, charging the net more, serving bigger.
Beyond that, a key shot almost never gets past her. She may look awful on a deuce point, but if it's break point she's a human backboard until the opponent slightly cracks, allowing Serena to pounce.
And each time it happens, with each fresh win and Grand Slam title, a thought first voiced long ago by Chris Evert - she of the 18 Grand Slam singles crowns - becomes more and more true.
"The only person who can beat Serena," Evert said, "is Serena."
But just for fun, let's add quotes from former world No. 1s Tracy Austin and Martina Hingis to the argument.
Said Austin last fall: "I can't think of anybody - even Roger Federer - who holds the outcome on their racket more in every match than Serena."
Added Hingis, when asked if Williams would have trouble with Martina Navratilova (also 18 major singles crowns) or Evert if she was forced to play with the same wooden rackets they used for most of their careers: "No, I don't think that. I think if you gave Serena a wood racket, she'd probably break it. Or the ball would go right through the other person's strings."
Federer, of course, is in today's men's quarterfinals, hoping to win this weekend his 18th major and his eighth Wimbledon, which would break his tie with Pete Sampras and Willie Renshaw for All-England Club championships. All three men currently have seven Wimbledon titles.
But to do that he would have to beat the crafty Frenchman Giles Simon today, quite probably outlast Andy Murray in the semis and either world No. 1 Novak Djokivic or Stan Wawrinka (who beat Federer in the French Open quarters) in the final.
So Fed probably stays at 17, three clear of Sampras' and Rafael Nadal's 14 major singles crowns.
And just to make a Saturday final interesting on the front end for Serena, she could face the last player to beat her in a major in Muguruza, who meets Agnieszka Radwanska in Thursday's other women's semi.
Just don't expect Azarenka to be calling for the upset.
"We just saw today why Serena is No. 1," she told the media. "I haven't seen her play like this, honestly."
And whatever happens going forward, we aren't likely to see another woman play with Williams' unmatched blend of power, speed, guts and heart in the foreseeable future.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.