The last time Roger Federer played Marin Cilic there was no one there.
Federer and his family had arrived for a holiday on the small islands of the Maldives when, days later, Cilic arrived with his fiancee. The staff alerted Federer to the fact another tennis player had arrived. It was OK - the islands might be disappearing from climate change, but they would not be sunk by the presence of two egos as big as tennis players'.
They ignored each other for two days - it was holidays after all. Besides, it was November last year and only months earlier Federer had clinically denied Cilic in the most public fashion on centre court at Wimbledon. Cilic's body had stopped him asking if his game was good enough to beat the world's best.
It was Cilic who reached out first.
"When he arrived I didn't want to bother him. He didn't want to bother me," said Federer. "After two days, he wrote me 'I'm here, too, in case you want to catch up and stuff, let me know'. I was like, 'Sure, let me know if you want to hit'. He was eager to hit because it's good to stay in the rhythm for both of us. We also met up later for drinks, met his fiancee. We had cake together, my whole family and him.
"We had a good time. It's not like we're hanging out all the time, but our paths crossed a few times. We actually went to practice twice for 45 minutes. It's great fun. No coaches, no nothing, just the two of us on the court hitting balls. It was just nice and laid back. To get to know the man behind the tennis player, I guess, even though I got to know him better through the Laver Cup and so forth."
There will be more people there when they play next. Federer advanced through to the Australian Open final on Friday night but did not win through. His opponent Hyeon Chung was forced to retire with severe blisters to his feet when he was down 5-2 in the second set having lost the first 6-1.
Federer knew the 21-year-old had problems with his feet before the match but was impressed that the stoic South Korean had disguised his discomfort during the first set. He betrayed no limitation in his game almost until the moment he went to shake the chair umpire's hand and retire.
"I did see today why he beat players like Novak [Djokovic], Sascha [Alexander Zverev], other players in the past. He's very steady mentally. Today I'm sure he was having a lot of pain with his feet - otherwise, why would you retire in such a big-match situation? And you couldn't tell.
"I like that about the idea of hiding any problems from the opponent. That was very impressive, to be honest."
For Federer it meant an unexpectedly brief semi-final but he was happy to accept the shorter court time.
"You take the faster matches wherever you can because there is enough wear and tear on the body and enough tough matches throughout the season, so when they happen you take them. And there is nothing you can do about them anyway," he said.
"The thought process is not what would have been better. I am just happy I am in the final, that was the goal before the match today. I was able to get there - not under the circumstances I was hoping to or planning to, but I played a good match and he struggled clearly with his movement and I was able to take advantage of that."
Federer has yet to drop a set en route to the final. He is not complaining that his path has been soft.
"I just need to play a good match. At this point it is not about having to improve anything in particular. I think I have played, done everything, pretty well.
"I am just pleased my game has been good from the very beginning of the tournament so far. I have won all my matches without dropping a set."
And a 20th grand slam title - what would that mean?
"Twenty times special. I don't know what to tell you. It would be amazing. I can't believe how fast the week has turned out to be."
