Resurgent Rafael Nadal has wound back the clock a full decade in his barnstorming run to an Australian Open semi-final against Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Spaniard arrived at Melbourne Park under a fitness cloud having not played a tour tournament since withdrawing from the US Open semis with knee soreness and then undergoing ankle surgery.
It has mattered not a jot.
The 17-time major winner has stormed into the semis with five successive straight-sets wins - the most recent being a 6-3 6-4 6-2 summary dismissal of red-hot American Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals on Tuesday night.
It replicates Nadal's run at the 2009 Australian Open, which began with five successive straight-sets triumphs and ended with the Spaniard holding the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup aloft for the only time after a climactic win over Roger Federer in the final.
"I came here with positive feelings having done a lot of things well before the tournament started," said the 32-year-old.
"Then you have to compete, you have to win matches, because after a while without competing it is always a challenge.
"But I really did a lot of things well during the whole week so it's special to be back where I am today.
"Now it will be another tough match against Stefanos."
Where it not for the question mark over his fitness, it would be no surprise to see Nadal in the semis at Melbourne Park for the sixth time.
The same could hardly be said of Tsitsipas, who blew the tournament wide open with a stunning fourth-round victory over Roger Federer and backed it up with a measured win over Spanish counter-puncher Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarters.
With Melbourne's huge expatriate Greek community mobilised and in full voice, the No.14 seed will be the crowd favourite, even against a man who has always enjoyed plenty of support down under.
The Spaniard has won their only two previous matches, but the 20-year-old Tsitsipas is a player very much on the rise.
"I felt very close to beating him in Toronto, though the score was 6-2 7-6," said Tsitsipas.
"I remember coming back to the locker room and promising to myself I'm going to do much better against him next time.
"It felt like I understood a bit better what he was doing on the court after that match, and especially on hard court.
"On clay, it was a different story.
"I felt like I had no chance after losing in Barcelona 6-1 6-2. I felt like he's on completely another level on clay than on hard.
"It's going to be interesting. I feel like I can do something good against him."
