Late in the afternoon, outside the main interview room at the Australian Open, the present of women’s tennis sat on a chair and waited. Inside the past of the game was laughing, teasing, talking over each other as they spoke about equal pay, sisterhood, bra-burning and history.

Outside, the waiting Aryna Sabalenka, who had just entered her first Australian Open semi-final, knew she could not complain. Those women inside, all in their 70s and 80s, all greying revolutionaries, had forged a world which has allowed Sabalenka to make a wonderful living.