Even allowing for a strong showing last month on the Eastbourne grass, where she was runner-up to Belinda Bencic, few tipped her to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon. Yet that is exactly what she has done, seeing off the power and pace of the rising American Madison Keys in three gritty quarter-final sets 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3, in a fraction under two hours. No one is more surprised by the turnaround in fortunes than Radwanska herself.

“To be honest, I did not really see myself in the semi-finals here so few weeks after Roland Garros,” she acknowledged. “I knew that grass is much better [for] me, but after that match in Paris, I wouldn’t expect the semi-final here, that’s for sure. I had a lot of good matches before Wimbledon, and had a lot more confidence after those weeks on grass.”

The quarter-final was a hard match to call in advance. Radwanska’s uncertainty on court must have beckoned to the youthful fearlessness of a player such as Keys, and plenty of observers – including, alas, this reporter – predicted the No.21 seed would take it. But at the death, her all-out attack yielded an error tally which was too much for the scoreline to bear, and there was something of a metaphor in Radwanska’s moment of triumph – as Keys slipped over and crashed inelegantly on the baseline, the Pole raised her arms in quiet victory.

“She’s a very powerful player,” said Radwanska of Keys. “She hits the ball very hard, really stepping in to the court, not giving you a lot of chances. You really have to focus on your own serve, because if you lose that, you’re really in trouble. But you’re definitely going to see more of her in the future.”

Now only Garbine Muguruza bars the way to a second Wimbledon final. On paper the No.13 seed is favourite over the No.20, but in fact on the Road to Singapore Leaderboard – which measures results so far this year – the Spaniard has the edge, lying in 17th place to Radwanska’s 18th. Moreover, while their career head-to-head stands at 2-2, Muguruza carries the momentum with her of having won their most recent two meetings, in Sydney and Dubai this year.

Whatever else emerges from their semi-final, Muguruza is unlikely to help along Radwanska’s cause with 40 unforced errors, as Keys did. But at the ripe old age of 26, the No.13 seed must make use of the fact that her experience deep into Slams dwarfs her 21-year-old opponent’s – Muguruza has never previously been beyond the second round here, although she has notched up back-to-back quarter-finals at Roland Garros in the last two years. She is the first Spaniard to reach the last four at Wimbledon since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 18 years ago.

“Experience is always very important, especially in a Grand Slam,” said Radwanska. “But sometimes when you’re there for the first time, you have nothing to lose. We’ll see.”

Even at this stage, however, there is yet scope that one of the unhappier statistics of Radwanska’s season may be extended – of the 12 tournaments she has played, she has lost to a player ranked 20 or below in seven of them, including all three of her most recent events. And of course, two of those defeats came early on to Muguruza. But here the surface may be crucial – certainly Radwanska thinks so.