It's amazing what overcoming a scare can do.
Time and time again, the best are met with a lively challenger - and despite struggling to quell them, it turns out to be for the significant betterment of the winner.
Look at Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal on Friday.
Pushed to the brink in round two. World beaters in round three.
Unfortunately for Zarina Diyas and Dudi Sela, they were on the end of the world-class beatings - no thanks to Alexandra Panova and Tim Smyczek, who took all the tension out of the aforementioned stars.
Okay, so the tennis was not that insulting - but it also was not all that competitive, save for some spirit shown by Sela late on.
All because sleeping giants Sharapova and Nadal had well and truly been woken two days earlier, and that spelt doom for their next opponents.
Of course, it's not as easy as slaying the dragon and moving on.
You only have to look at the match prior to Sharapova's on centre court to know that champions do not simply win by default when under the cosh.
Roger Federer lost to Andreas Seppi for the first time in his professional career - they had met 10 times prior to Friday.
While Seppi had before been in a similar situation in a major - he once led Novak Djokovic by two sets at the French Open in 2012 before succumbing to defeat - it still came as a shock when Federer was on the losing side of match point.
Even when Seppi led by two sets over Federer, it was still well and truly on the minds of fans and experts alike that five sets was on the cards - and so, still, was a Swiss victory.
Only once Seppi's swiped forehand passing shot floated in past a stranded Federer did the world believe the 17-time major winner was done - as was his streak of reaching the semi-finals at Melbourne Park, which spanned 11 years.
One could imagine what Federer might have done had he avoided the shock loss, and advanced - as his contemporaries Nadal and Sharapova did.