Jannik Sinner has crushed green-and-gold tennis hopes in Malaga - and for that, the most breathtaking young player in tennis right now is thanking an Australian.
The 22-year-old Italian strode away with the Davis Cup in his hands on Sunday after a week of masterful displays that told of a man playing at a wholly rarefied new level at the moment.
And asked to reflect on the irony of how a coach from Down Under may have helped turn him into an Australian destroyer following his dismantling of Alex de Minaur to clinch the title for Italy on Sunday, Sinner was only too happy to heap plaudits on his mentor, Darren Cahill.
"He was really important for me, for how I was grow as a player, because I feel like he gave me a lot of confidence in one way," explained a smiling Sinner about his 58-year-old Adelaide coach, who's worked wonders with everyone from Andre Agassi to Lleyton Hewitt to Simona Halep down the years.
The man they call "Killer" Cahill - a jokey nod to what a mild-mannered bloke he is - has now seemingly focused his attention on turning Sinner into a killer on court - doubtless much to Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt's chagrin.
Now he's become a skinny, ginger assassin who's hitting the ball with such ferocity that he left Novak Djokovic gasping and groping at the bullets speeding past him in two defeats, in both singles and doubles, in Saturday's semi-final.
Australian doubles great Mark Woodforde said earlier on Sunday he could hardly believe he'd ever seen anyone hit the ball as hard as Sinner and wondered just how much of the exquisite timing of his shots was down to Cahill's expertise.
"Obviously, he gave something new to the (coaching) team," said world No.4 Sinner.
"The combination with him and Simone (Vagnozzi) and all the team is really, really nice. I think this is one of my keys. Every team has its own kind of stability. I have mine. I think we have worked really, really well."
So well, indeed, that he was able to make de Minaur, the world's 12th best player, look utterly helpless in Malaga.
"Jannik is riding this amazing wave of confidence," said de Minaur, who simply couldn't cope as Sinner blasted 25 aces past him.
"He's playing in indoor conditions with some heavy tennis balls that he can hit the absolute crap out of. He's seriously impressive the level he's showing."
So impressive that he must be a serious challenger to Djokovic in the Australian Open.
Asked if he felt spearheading the Davis Cup win could be the launchpad for him to graduate to an even more elite level, Sinner smiled "Let's see.
"I mean, this (Davis Cup) is something different, something really special, because you don't play for yourself but you play for the whole team.
"I came here with confidence, and throughout the whole month (also reaching the final at the ATP Finals). I came from Turin, gave 100 per cent, all that I had, and I think the whole team pushed each other, and this is maybe the key to why we are standing here with this trophy."
