After finally defeating Jimmy Connors following 16 successive losses to his fellow American, the never-say-die Vitas Gerulaitis strode into the press room at Madison Square Garden in New York to utter the immortal line.

“And let that be a lesson to you all,” he told the rapt throng of reporters. “No-one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row ...”

That now-enshrined triumph came in January 1980 in the semi-finals of the Masters, the early incarnation of the present-day end-of-season ATP Finals.

So 45 years on, what price history repeating itself on Saturday night, with a defiant Australian underdog strutting into the media room at Turin’s Inalpi Arena after beating Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals and growling: “No-one beats Alex de Minaur 13 times in a row...”?

Why not? De Minaur is

See Full Page