The stars may be aligning for Alex de Minaur in Paris with everything falling into place to hand the Australian potentially a dream opportunity at the French Open.
An exhausting early-hours, eve-of-match finish for his quarter-final opponent Alexander Zverev on Tuesday, then the bombshell of champion Novak Djokovic's injury withdrawal, has opened up a tantalising path for de Minaur not just to a maiden semi-final, but even to the final itself.
And with the great Djokovic, a potentially unassailable semi-final hurdle, out of the picture, de Minaur knows his last-four opponent would be Casper Ruud, a player he's beaten twice and never lost to, should he defeat Zverev in a match that's now been promoted to Wednesday's prime time night spot on Court Philippe Chatrier.
