Roger Federer, at age thirty-five, recently won his 18th grand slam title at the Australian Open yet for many, the focus remained the passage of time since his last grand slam triumph; 1,666  days had lapsed since he reigned at the All England Club.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, currently ranked 11th in the world, just captured his 13th career ATP World Tour title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam from a set down against David Goffin but once again, it was the drought between titles that many pundits chose to highlight.

If tennis had an anthem, it would most certainly be “What have you done for me lately.” Marius Copil from Romania doesn’t shoulder the weight of expectation because he has not done anything lately – yet.

From the comfort of my living room on a wide-screen television, I attentively watched Copil play – at times outplay - former world number four and Wimbledon finalist, Tomas Berdych on an indoor hard court in the first round in Rotterdam. Although he lost to the Czech in two highly competitive sets, the Romanian possesses the mentality of a champion. I was summarily impressed and intrigued; who was this relatively unknown 26-year-old qualifier?

Currently ranked 126 in the world, Copil at 6’4” is incredibly agile for his height and consistently exposed Berdych’s sub-par movement. His serve is explosive and was clocked at 150.4 mph at the Australian Open in 2015 – the fastest recorded serve at a grand slam event.

His two-handed backhand and forehand are equally effective and he is more than willing to move forward to finish points. In 2012 he scored a significant victory in defeating then world number 13 and future US Open champion, Marin Cilic on an outdoor hard court at the China Open.

Copil has reached 8 finals at the challenger level with three victories. Like Ryan Harrison, hard work and victory at the challenger level breed confidence. After being touted as the next American superstar following the inevitable downward trajectory of Andy Roddick, Harrison succumbed to the pressure of expectation and wallowed in self-doubt on the Challenger Tour.

The twenty-four-year-old has re-committed himself and inarguably, has paid his dues. Earlier this month he won the RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas - a challenger event - defeating the newly crowned American hopeful, Taylor Fritz, only to surpass that accomplishment this week by capturing his first ATP World Tour final at the Memphis Open.

After attaining a career-high ranking of forty-three in the world in 2012, Harrison watched his ranking plummet to an all-time low of 197. Harrison will equal his career high ranking of forty-three in the world following his straight sets victory in seventy-six minutes over Nikoloz Basilashvilli in the final in Memphis.

Marius Copil should glean inspiration from Harrison’s remarkable resurgence which began at the start of last year’s summer hardcourt season. The Romanian may not yet be a household name but I am confident it will in time.