Each match shapes as a potential minefield. Barty uses the word “navigating’” a lot, and she will need those skills this week. First up is Anisimova, who made the fourth round here in 2019 as a 17-year-old, and seemed to have the tennis world at her feet. Later that year, she lost her father, Konstantin, a man who had been so influential on her development, to a heart attack. This stopped her upward trajectory in its tracks, and it’s only now that she seems to be getting back on song, at least going by the Osaka match anyway.

She also has renowned Australian coach Darren Cahill in her corner at the tournament, and the early signs are very promising. Osaka admitted she was surprised by the pace of the Anisimova ball, suggesting Anisimova was a great example of emerging star power and the “growth of tennis”. This will be some match, and you can have no doubt Barty is not looking any further beyond it.

We, however, can project of course, as the winner plays the talented American Jessica Pegula, a quarter-finalist here last year, or Greece’s Maria Sakkari, recently a semi-finalist at the US Open, playing in, as she describes it, her “second home”. In Melbourne, the third largest Greek city in the world, after Athens and Thessaloniki, the presence of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Sakkari adds a special dimension. You only need to ask Marcos Baghdatis what it was like back in 2006 when he rode the Melburnian Greek wave all the way to the final, and it was perhaps one of the few times that Roger Federer had the majority of the crowd against him.

Beyond that, you couldn’t pick with any degree of certainty who will emerge from the Barbora Krejcikova, Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys and Paula Badosa section of the draw. That’s dynamite. Let’s hope Barty emerges too, but her would-be semi-final opponent will have pedigree and be playing very well.

The finalist from the bottom half is anyone’s guess. The highest seed is No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, but she’ll need a cure for her second serve ills pronto. One suspects Simona Halep, formerly coached by Cahill until recent times, has a big opportunity.

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Looking at the Barty game, she has the tools. She moves extremely well, has laser-like accuracy on serve, has one of the best forehands on the tour, and although it’s no secret that she will come up against players with more power and better two-hand backhands, her one-hand slice, a rare jewel in the women’s game, is a “disarmer” and more than makes up for it.

She’s also the best volleyer out there, certainly helpful on one of those big “swing” points, and admits she uses her game to make her opponents feel uncomfortable.

To win, she’ll need to do that match in, match out, against high-quality opponents and without a single slip-up.