One of them displays an eerie calm, the other a powder keg of emotions, but together Ash Barty and Nick Kyrgios have combined to help revive the Australian Open.
In less than two weeks, the Grand Slam has gone from the embarrassment of the Novak Djokovic affair to the brink of celebrating longed-for home champions.
The most significant of these would be Barty holding the trophy aloft when she becomes the first Australian woman to compete in the final since Wendy Turnbull 42 years ago.
Ashleigh Barty beat Madison Keys in straight sets to reach the Australian Open singles final
Kyrgrios is the highest-profile member of an all-Aussie quartet contesting the men’s doubles final. For good measure, the country’s wheelchair legend, Dylan Alcott, has just been named Australian of the Year.
It may not be quite the heyday of Rod Laver and Margaret Court, but still quite a turnaround after all the recrimination.
But over the past fortnight, Barty has shown that she has separated herself from the rest of the women’s game. Surely it would only be a loss of nerve that can stop her winning the title when she meets feisty American outsider Danielle Collins, the No 27 seed.
Her superior class to the rest of the field was evident when she comfortably suppressed the easy power of Madison Keys to win Thursday's semi-final 6-1, 6-3.
Barty (left) becomes the first Australian woman to reach the final of her home Grand Slam since Wendy Turnbull (right) back in 1980
What has been remarkable is the zen-like calm she has brought to the court under so much domestic pressure. That proved too much for some of the country’s finest players in recent decades, such as Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur.
Keys was left as a subscriber to the belief that the reigning Wimbledon champion is now a player apart. ‘I definitely think so. She seems focused, but she’s playing within
