Coco Gauff's day of destiny arrived as she came from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka and win the US Open.
The 19-year-old became the first American teenager to triumph at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.
Williams' final farewell to tennis at the same championships last year left a colossal void in tennis in the US.
So it felt only natural that Gauff, the heir apparent to the 23-time grand slam winner, stepped into her shoes 12 months later.
Sabalenka will be the new world number one on Monday after a remarkably consistent year in which she won the Australian Open and reached the semi-finals in Paris and at Wimbledon.
But that will be scant consolation for the 25-year-old from Belarus after she put herself in position to win her second grand slam title, only to fold as Gauff claimed her first, thrilling a raucous crowd with a memorable 2-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
The pattern of the match was set out early on, Sabalenka hitting the ball incredibly hard and Gauff chasing after it.
Sabalenka's unforced error count kept Gauff interested in the early stages, but once she settled her firepower saw her race off with the opening set.
Gauff saved two break points after twice double-faulting at the start of the second.
But it was double fault from the racket of Sabalenka, just after Gauff had the crowd inside Arthur Ashe on its feet with a stunning cross-court backhand winner, which gave the sixth seed a way back into the match.
Gauff saved a break point to lead 4-1 before Sabalenka held with the shot of the match.
Chasing a lob to the back of the court and with her back to Gauff, she sent the ball high over her opponent and right into the corner.
But it was Gauff who was in control and extracting more errors from the second seed as she confidently levelled the match.
Gauff’s incessant scrambling had Sabalenka scrambled and she broke twice at the start of the third.
Sabalenka took a medical time-out at 4-1 behind and immediately retrieved a break only for Gauff to hit straight back, almost taking the closed roof off Ashe.
A confident hold of serve later and she was the champion, the enormity of which hit Gauff almost immediately as she wept tears of joy before racing into the stands to celebrate her stunning achievement with her ecstatic family.
Gauff broke down in tears on the court before climbing into the stands to embrace her parents Corey and Candi, who gave up their careers to lead her tennis journey.
There were tears of a different nature for Sabalenka, who said as the crowd applauded: "You guys could have cheered like this during the match.
"I just want to say congrats Coco, you played unbelievable. And to your team. You guys deserve this title.
Many more to come I'm pretty sure. I hope we're going to play many more finals - different result hopefully."
Sobbing heavily, the Belarusian added: "I want to send a lot of love to my family, sorry about this result."
Gauff reached her first slam final at the French Open last summer, losing heavily to Iga Swiatek, and she said: "It means so much to me I feel like I'm a little bit in shock. That French Open loss was a heart-breaker but God puts you through trials and tribulations and that makes this even sweeter."
Taking the microphone and before receiving the trophy from Billie Jean King on the 50th anniversary of equal prize money, Gauff said: "Thank you first to my parents.
"Today was the first time I've ever seen my dad cry. You believed in me from the beginning. My dad took me to this tournament watching Venus and Serena compete.
"Thank you so much to my team. I know it's been a long month but your faith has never wavered.
"And thank you to the people who didn't believe in me. I tried my best to carry this with grace. To those who thought you were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it and now I'm burning so bright."
