It is nearly 18 years since a young Roger Federer announced himself by knocking Pete Sampras out of Wimbledon.
What goes around comes around, and the now 37-year-old Swiss finds himself on the way back to the European winter while Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20, occupies his place in the sun.
'I guess so. He has a one-handed backhand and I used to have long hair, so maybe a little bit,' reflected Federer ruefully, when asked for similarities between his young self and his conqueror, also pointing to the Greek's old-school continental grip.
Roger Federer hit out at John McEnroe's criticism after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas
McEnroe suggested that Federer's defeat is a 'changing-of-the-guard moment'
Tsitsipas won their fourth round match 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6, and even managed to have plenty of the Rod Laver Arena on his side, a rarity against the sainted Federer.
As the Swiss contemplated the loss of his Australian Open title from a year ago he admitted that he cannot spurn 12 out of 12 break points and hope to beat someone so inspired and talented.
They say the nerve goes as well as the body when you get old in tennis, but the Swiss has done a magnificent job of disputing that since he hit his mid-30s.
Later, when told that the commentating John McEnroe had pronounced this a changing-of-the-guard moment, he reacted with a magisterial world weariness, tinged with more than a little irritation.
'John's in front of the mic a lot. He's always going to say stuff. I love John. I've heard that story the last 10 years. From that standpoint, nothing new there.'
But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and sometime it will be true that the great players are on the wane. Federer insisted that he leaves here feeling good physically and he did not rule out playing the French Open this year.
This might yet go down as the Grand Slam when two of the legends succumbed, in their own way, to the ravages of age. Andy Murray first and now the greatest of all.
Tsitsipas goes on to face Roberto Bautista Agut, the man who held off Murray's fightback and seems to be stronger for the experience.
Tsitsipas secured a surprise 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6 victory over Federer in the Australian Open
In some ways it will be a more pressurised experience for the young pretender, tackling the dourly determined Spaniard. Federer lost to Tim Henman after beating Sampras in 2001.
