Barry Cowan produced one of the most sensational performances ever seen from a Briton at Wimbledon as he took seven-time champion Pete Sampras to the wire.
But before the tournament his name would have drawn blank expressions even in his native Lancashire.
Cowan gave seven-time champion Pete Sampras the biggest fright of his professional career at the All-England club.
From two sets down, the 26-year-old Cowan, ranked 265th in the world, suddenly pulled one back and then stunned Court One by breaking the great man’s serve to take the fourth set too.
That top seed Sampras imposed his authority in the decider - though he was broken once more before finally winning it 6-3 - was almost irrelevant.
It will not have escaped Great Britain Davis Cup captain Roger Taylor either, who witnessed both Cowan’s opening-round romp against Mark Hilton and Wednesday night’s excitement.
Places are up for grabs for September’s match with Ecuador and Cowan could now have guaranteed himself one of those.
The Liverpool fan, who listens to ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ in breaks between games, said: "Hopefully, this is the start of some better things to come and this week will stand me in good stead for the summer.
"I have to be pleased with the way I handled myself out there and I have always believed I could live with these guys.
"I always felt I’ve had the ability but certain things have held me back. One of those has been physically but I’ve worked really hard in the last two and a half years on that and I’ve seen improvement over time.
"But I felt this year I was losing matches not because of tennis or fitness but because of my mind.
“Now I’m more relaxed and I believe in myself more.”
Sampras admitted to relief at coming through the match.
He said: "Give him the credit, he played very well. There were some tense moments out there and it could have been the upset of the century.
“That’s the closest it has been for me in the opening rounds at Wimbledon, and given the way he was playing and that it was on grass anything could have happened.”