In one sense, it will be the lowest-stakes grand slam battle Roger Federer and Andy Murray have had.
But there’s still plenty riding on Wednesday night’s Australian Open quarter-final between the Swiss great and the Scottish two-time major winner.
Three of their previous four grand slam meetings have been in finals – Federer victorious each time, at the US Open in 2008, Australian Open in 2010 and Wimbledon in 2012.
Murray, who hadn’t won a major to that point, hit back to beat Federer in the 2012 London Olympics final.
He followed that by breaking his grand slam duck with triumphs at the 2012 US Open and at Wimbledon last year.
In between, he notched his first grand slam win over Federer, in a five-set semi-final battle last year at Melbourne Park.
While this clash comes earlier in the tournament, it gives both men the chance to dispel some nagging queries.
Federer, 32, had his poorest year in the majors for more than a decade in 2013.
But his impressive straight-sets win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Monday night indicated earlier exits in last year’s last two slams might have been a blip rather than the start of a career decline.
Then again, if he can’t follow it up with a strong showing against Murray, speculation that the 17-time major winner is permanently on the slide will resume.
Murray is coming off spinal surgery, which restricted him to a handful of lead-up matches before the Open.
While he’s progressed comfortably to this point, Wednesday night’s clash provides the first real test of how seriously that low-key build-up has impacted his title hopes.
Earlier on Wednesday, 22-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, touted as a future world No.1, will meet the incumbent, Rafael Nadal.
In women’s matches, Slovakian 20th seed Dominika Cibulkova, coming off a fourth-round upset of Maria Sharapova, faces Romania’s Simona Halep.
Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, yet to drop a set in the tournament, meets Polish fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.