Thirteen years ago, Amélie Mauresmo beat Justine Henin in the Australian Open final to claim her first Grand Slam title.
Now, Mauresmo has coached Lucas Pouille to his first Grand Slam semifinal in Melbourne where he meets six-time champion Novak Djokovic.
Watch: Pliskova Saves Match Points, Shocks Serena
Pouille, who knocked off 11th-seeded Borna Coric and 16th-seeded Milos Raonic en route to the final four, says Mauremso brings a champion's confidence and insight to his corner.
It's the former world No. 1's second stint as a coach on the ATP Tour. Mauresmo previously coached Andy Murray, who revealed he was mocked by some skeptics for hiring a woman.
Pouille said gender is irrelevant to good coaching.
"Men are coaching women, so why not the contrary? I mean, they don't get it," Pouille said. "As I said again and again, it's not about being a man or a woman, it's about knowing tennis, about having the good state of mind. She's a champion. She's a great coach."
The Hall of Famer initially accepted the job of French Davis Cup captain and was set to succeed her tennis idol, Yannick Noah, leading the French side.
Along came Pouille offering her the coaching position. Mauresmo was concerned there would be conflict of interest if she coached a French player while captaining the French squad, so she stepped down as Davis Cup captain to focus on coaching the 24-year-old Pouille.
"I think she's bringing a lot of confidence to my game, to my personality, to my state of mind," Pouille said. "As I said at the beginning, the goal is not to reach the final, the semifinal, the goal is to improve my tennis, to put what I work on during the practice in the match. That gives me less pressure. I'm just trying to focus on my game, not on the consequences and the results."
It's been a wondrous down under turnaround for Pouille, who was winless in five prior Australian Open appearances.
The 28th-seeded Frenchman didn't exactly light it up in his tune-up for Melbourne: Pouille failed to win a singles match at Hopman Cup earlier this month.
Pouille, who knocked off 11th-seeded Borna Coric and 16th-seeded Milos Raonic en route to the final four, will take on world No. 1 Djokovic for the first time.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve