Andy Murray's second Wimbledon triumph began moments before the first ball was served.
Umpire Jake Garner had just called time and Milos Raonic, playing his first grand slam final, obediently marched into his seat. Murray remained pinned to his baseline.
He asked for another ball and continued to warm up his serve, reeling off one, two, three more before finally shuffling to the middle.
As Raonic walked out to start, Murray re-ordered his towels and adjusted his water bottles. As Raonic waited to serve, Murray tightened his shoe laces.
Whatever happened thereafter in the two hours and 48 minutes of this Wimbledon final, Murray knew it would be on his terms.
In Raonic's pre-match media duties, he announced his intention not to be "sucked into his game", to which Murray later responded, "I don't know what that means. I genuinely don't know what I do".
But Murray was well aware what he was doing in those precious few minutes on Centre Court, forcing his debutant opponent to stew on the tension, alter his routine and submit entirely to the superiority of a world number two, 11-time major finalist and now three-time grand slam champion.
After all, it is not often Murray starts one of these feeling superior.
This was the Scot's first major final against someone not named Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer and his only one against a player placed lower in the world rankings. Of the last 46 male grand slam finalists, Raonic was just the sixth to be ranked outside the world's top five.
For Murray then, with mentor Ivan Lendl back by his side, this was certainly a glorious opportunity, perhaps one even slightly fortunate, but who could deny him that after 10 years slugging with three of the greatest the sport has ever seen?
Besides, Raonic is no slouch. He was occasionally made to look flat-footed by Murray's quickness of mind but the Canadian is a 6ft 5in power-merchant, not in the one-dimensional sense, but instead a throwback to Wimbledon's golden era of servers, when the likes of Pete Sampras and Goran Ivanisevic had line judges everywhere ducking for cover.
His problem here was Murray never had any inclination to retreat.
When a rocket-serve landed at 147 miles per hour, one short of Taylor Dent's 2010 Wimbledon record, Murray punched it back, shoulder-height, before scrambling across and unleashing a brilliant backhand pass.
When a stupendous smash cannoned up to his ear-lobe, Murray scooped it back, recovered, and whipped a cross-court forehand his beleaguered opponent was unable to match.
At times, this tennis court simply seemed too small for Raonic to find spaces Murray would not be able to reach.
At 29 and, presumably, entering the twilight years of his career, Murray's 6-4 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/2) victory will go down as the sequel to that historic 2013 Wimbledon triumph.
But it should also be remembered as an exhibition of those talents with which he will be forever associated.
If Federer is the elegance, Djokovic the dynamism and Rafael Nadal the athlete, Murray is the defence, a lightning quick, relentless retriever who never knows when he is beaten.
After three years of waiting, a third grand slam title. There may be a few more yet to come.
Source: PA
