Gojo: 'If you can hang with Nadal, you can hang with everyone'

His ranking may not have shifted far - the 23-year-old is currently ranked No. 276 in the world - but his nip-and-tuck victory over world No. 61 Popyrin, who he had lost to in Melbourne in February despite having six match points, proved that his game ranks far higher.

"I've had kind of a tough year," Gojo explained. "I got injured in Australia: first six, seven months, I was playing with an injury. And that hurts you when you can't play 100 per cent, it hurts you mentally.

"I just ended up having a having a tough year, but I know at any point that I can play with all these guys, and Davis Cup gave me that opportunity today. I played a nice match and got a point for Croatia, so I'm very happy for that."

It's more than a point, as his compatriot Marin Cilic pointed out. The significance of Gojo's win was not lost on Croatia's most successful Davis Cup player, who said: "It could prove to be one of the most significant matches in the group, so fantastic performance by him.

"We were not actually expecting Borna to win today's match, so what a great effort from him," Cilic said. "He won a match in Davis Cup against India last year, his first ever, and what a battle he had beating Popyrin in an extremely vital match for our group.

"Obviously, he's served incredibly well, close to 75% of his bombs. It was great to watch. But I have to say it was a tough battle. Alexei have more chances in general in the match, but things go like this. Borna is that kind of player: he serves big and can take these kind of matches."