Sam Groth got one thing right in his brief encounter with Andy Murray. "Too good," he exclaimed as a Murray passing shot dipped over the net and past him, and "too good" again as the next point went the same way.
That was the first set, done, and Groth was still to break his duck on Rod Laver arena. The best that can be said of the balance of the match is that he did get on the board, 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 it read at the end. 
Groth had never previously even hit up on Melbourne Park's centre court, let alone played there, until a practice session in the morning, coincidentally alongside Murray. He admitted nerves got to him.
It showed in how often he baulked in his service action. More to the point, Murray got to him.
Point after point, Groth raced to the net, which is what he does. Point after point, Murray picked him off, with geometrically precise passing shots and lobs, which is what he does. Too good, too good.
The murmuring of the crowd was the same horrified level and pitch as when a spectator suffered a nasty fall there in the morning, delaying a previous match. As for Groth, he was in the sort of humour that in a previous life might have occasioned the sending out of a runner, or even a spell on the bench.
Three of the five games Groth won came in a row in the middle of the second set, when he momentarily found range and rhythm on his serve.
A 227km/h ace delivered him to his first game point, a 231km/h follow-up consummated it. Too fast, too fast, Murray might have said. The rest of Groth's game began to flow, too. But it was as fleeting as a comet.
"I had a really bad serving day against the No. 2 player in the world," said Groth. "That's not going to cut it." Too bad, too bad.
Murray and Groth had met before only in Davis Cup doubles.
It will be cold comfort to Groth to know that Murray's estimation of him perhaps is higher than his own.
"I actually think he's a better player from the back of the court than he thinks he is," Murray said.
"He doesn't need to serve and volley as much as he does." Too late, too late.
Murray has never lost to an Australian on tour, and only once to a home-town player in a major.
They're begrudging, those Scots. Murray went his slick way.
"I tend to enjoy playing against that game style," he said. "I had a feeling today that maybe the match-up would be good for me. Too true, too true. Later, Murray nit-picked at himself, for a low first-serve for instance. It scarcely mattered; he won 70 per cent of points on his second serve. Too much, too much.
Groth's last gambit at least was original.
As another Murray service return skimmed past him, Groth challenged his own serve, hoping it was a fault. It wasn't, but you had to admire the initiative.
Three points from the end of the match, Groth's ankle bent beneath him, causing him to grimace.
He completed the formalities, and later showed that his humour at least had stayed intact, saying: "If I hadn't rolled my ankle, I might have come back," he said. "Who knows?" Too right!