Marcus Willis takes on Roger Federer at Wimbledon, drawing parallels with Barry Cowan's 2001 meeting with another all-time great in Pete Sampras.
Willis has stunned the tennis world by coming through six matches of qualifying and pre-qualifying just to reach the main draw, and his first-round victory over world number 54 Ricardas Berankis set up his date with Federer.
It is the ultimate fairytale for world number 772 Willis against the 17-time Grand Slam champion and Cowan knows just how he feels.
Cowan had his own memorable moment at Wimbledon when he beat fellow Brit and wild card Mark Hilton in 2001 to set up a meeting with Sampras, the American who had conquered all before him and like Federer was a seven-time Wimbledon champion.
"There are a lot of similarities," said Cowan. "My advice to Marcus first of all is to do the press, have a hit and get out on Tuesday at about 2 or 3pm. If you hang around too long, you will get mentally drained and you will not be able to switch on.
"Wednesday will be a day where he is incredibly excited. And he is going to be incredibly nervous but he has got to remind himself why he has got here and that he has got here on merit.
"And then just go out and embrace it and enjoy it. If you do that, you will play great tennis.
"My mindset against Sampras was that if I can just do what I know I can and keep doing that, then if you get to 4-4 then anything can happen. If you close your eyes and you swing and you connect, you might be able to make life difficult for any opponent.
"He has got a game that is unique, he's got a left-handed serve which can be difficult to return. Realistically he is not going to win, realistically can he really perform, yes he can.
"Marcus will go out and do that, he won't be happy with just putting the ball in the court. I think he will go out swinging and it will be a question of if he gets a bit of luck along the way."
Cowan battled back from two sets down to level against the then 29-year-old Sampras before finally losing out in a fifth-set decider.
And rather than be intimidated by the opponent and the occasion, Cowan has urged Willis to continue playing the natural game that has taken him to Wednesday's showdown.
"You have to embrace what (Federer) has achieved and respect that," said Cowan. "Federer will respect what Marcus has done and he said it was nice to be part of a great story.
"He has earned the right to be out on that same court as Federer.
"He doesn't have to feel embarrassed if things go against him. The better he does, the more natural he is as a person, the more the crowd will get behind him - and the more they are behind you, the more chance you have of getting in the zone and that is what I experienced against Sampras."
Willis' story started with qualifying for the qualifiers, playing three matches just to get to the qualifying event at Roehampton last week and Cowan revealed the full story behind the lucky break Willis got.
"To think that he wasn't in pre-qualifying," said Cowan. "He only got in at the last minute as Scott Clayton who was playing at a tournament in Turkey couldn't get home. So he got a lucky loser for pre-qualifying and worked his way through.
"It's exclusively for British players, it's played at Aorangi Park in the same week as Queen's. There's no prize money for pre-qualifying, just what you get from getting to the qualifiers.
"What Marcus has always wanted to do is play tennis. Yes, he has made errors and yes, he was pretty immature when he was a teenager. But at some stage, it does not matter how old you are, you do realise eventually why you started playing tennis - it's because you love it.
"He has made corrections to his game and it is nice that when you do make some changes, you get some success and it doesn't get better than winning your first match at Wimbledon, getting the chance to play Federer and a cheque for £50,000 that will give you a chance to play."
Like Willis, Cowan was in his mid-20s and the Sky Sports expert says he can see how the British number 23 may have lost his way: there are many players who get lost at the bottom rung where prize money is very, very small.
He added: "That is pressure - where you are playing in a tournament and if you lose first round, you get $100.
"You don't need to be a genius to know that won't cover your hotel, your food and your flight to the next tournament.
"And when you aren't getting wins, it kills your spirit and it is tough to keep going and keep believing.
"It's a bit of a cliche but it is what makes the first four days of Wimbledon special, those four days. Not Djokovic, Murray or Federer on Centre, but someone different. He hit the headlines and he deserves it."