Despite missing out on the concluding showpiece event, the WTA Finals, Johanna Konta has still enjoyed a fairly successful season and has progressed exponentially over the past 12 months.
Following a meteoric rise up the rankings, the 26-year-old pushed on from the good progress on the court last year, making it to the quarter-final stage of the Australian Open.
Even though she made it a stage further in 2016, she did demonstrate a greater composure with a racket, eliminating former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.
In fact she didn’t concede a single set until her meeting against eventual champion Serena Williams in the last eight.
Konta had started work with a new coach Wim Fissette at the start of the year and their partnership soon looked to be paying dividends as she claimed a massive victory at the Miami Open.
What was noticeable during this tournament was her much improved mental resilience. In the quarter-final she was up against Simona Halep and looked to be heading home, when the Romanian had two match points, but both times she hung in and eventually snatched the win.
On the way to arguably the biggest title of her career up to that point, Konta also made light work of Wozniacki and Venus Williams, the latter of course losing to her sister in the Australian Open final.
Showing that she could hold her own against Grand Slam champions like Williams was a real positive and a clear sign of her rapid development.
The best tennis players, like Williams and Roger Federer, are able to perform on all different types of courts whether that be clay or hard surfaces. Once again Konta demonstrated she needs to work on that aspect of her game after going out in the first round of the French Open.
Not disheartened by an early exit at Roland Garros, she made a great response reaching the final of the Aegon Open Nottingham, which was the first tournament Konta took part in after returning from France.
A few weeks later during the Wimbledon curtain-raiser at Eastbourne she looked in ruthless form, despatching off newly-crowned French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world number one Angelique Kerber on route to the semi-finals.
Unfortunately a back injury prompted her to pull out of the tournament just a week before Wimbledon.
Any fears she may not feature at the All England Club were soon allayed when she breezed through her opening match, defeating Hsieh Su-Wei in straight sets.
The mental resilience which Konta had shown in abundance so far came to the fore again over the next week as she demonstrated a real composure under pressure during tense encounters with Donna Vekic and Caroline Garcia.
Then came a quarter-final contest against Halep with an overwhelming amount of pressure on her shoulders, trying to become the first British woman to reach a single’s semi-final in 39 years.
There was also extra incentive for the Romanian to advance, with a chance to attain the world number one spot for the first time in her career up for grabs.
Despite the overwhelming weight of expectation, Konta put in a magnificent display dragging Halep all over the court from start to finish and showing great character to come from a set down.
Although her hopes of a first Grand Slam were banished swiftly after suffering a straight sets defeat to Venus Williams in the last four the Sydney-born player had shown she can perform on the biggest stages when it matters.
The last few tournaments, including the US Open may have been disappointing for Konta, suffering first round exits, but there is still good reason to believe she will win a maiden Grand Slam title before long.
The past season has seen vital facets of her game, like composure and shot selection, improve tenfold and with several victories over established competitors she has a mental edge going into future events.
At the age of 26 there is also a great amount of time to continue her development and so it would appear she may well join an esteemed club before long.
