Iga Swiatek and Angelique Kerber are two of only three Grand Slam champions remaining in the women’s singles draw at Indian Wells.
They are also two of the four highest-ranked players still alive on the women’s side.
As a result, their clash on Tuesday in the Californian desert is almost certainly the pick of the women’s fourth-round matches – and this is reflected in its Stadium 1 billing.
And at a tournament where seeds have exited in droves, Swiatek and Kerber are helping to maintain the event's star power.
DRAW: Indian Wells women's singles
Despite being seeded 15th, Kerber is the fourth highest-ranked player left in the entire draw, behind Swiatek, defending champion Paula Badosa, and No.6 seed Maria Sakkari.
The three-time major winner owns more Grand Slam singles titles than any of her remaining rivals – Simona Halep has two, Swiatek one – and is a proven performer at Indian Wells, having reached the final as recently as 2019.
Kerber had not won a match in 2022 until this tournament and looked resurgent as she dissected 23rd seed Daria Kasatkina for the loss of just three games in round three.
Yet in her first ever meeting with the in-form Swiatek, Kerber is preparing for a far tougher test.
“She tries to play more aggressive so she has everything that you need to have for a top player,” the 34-year-old said of Swiatek.
“It will be a really tough match, but also it's great to have a match against a top player that I'm playing for the first time. It's not happening so often.”
As well as the obvious contrast in styles – Kerber’s left-handed counterpunching could prove an entertaining foil for Swiatek’s attacking, topspin-laden approach – the German is also 14 years older than the 20-year-old Pole.
Several recent battles between superstars from different generations have seen the veteran overcome the youngster.
But that may not be the case on Tuesday, given Swiatek – a champion in Doha just two weeks ago – takes a seven-match winning streak into this battle, and leads the WTA tour with 16 match wins in 2022.
Despite dropping the first sets of her previous Indian Wells matches against Anhelina Kalinina and Clara Tauson, Swiatek stormed back to win both comfortably.
She is brimming with confidence and feels she has recently turned a corner psychologically.
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“Before when I was losing I felt like my whole life is bad and like the base of my existence is suddenly destroyed because I'm losing a tennis match,” said the world No.4, who won Roland Garros in 2020.
“Right now I have more distance to everything and I can see clearly.
“I think my work that I've been doing with (sports psychologist) Daria (Abramowicz) is clicking and mentally I feel that I have more skills right now to just stay calm and think about solutions.”
The winner of the Swiatek-Kerber clash will advance to the Indian Wells quarterfinals, where either No.25 seed Madison Keys or qualifier Harriet Dart will await.