On one side of the net stands Roger Federer, the greatest player of his generation, if not all time. On the other is Andy Murray, the latest in a long line of challengers and pressing for his first major title.
Federer, of course, is peerless. He has dominated the tennis landscape for the past decade, racking up a record 15 Grand Slam titles including six Wimbledon crowns (five of them in succession from 2003-2007), five US Opens, three Australian Opens and last year's elusive French Open.
He is one of just six men to have captured all four majors and has held the world's No.1 ranking for a total of 267 weeks.
Anyone who suspected his desire might have waned after winning his first title at Roland Garros and then passing Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slams at the All-England Club a few weeks later were sadly mistaken.
Federer survived a scare in the first round against Russian Igor Andreev when he came from a set down to win 4-6 6-2 7-6 6-0, before cruising through his next three matches against Romania's Victor Hanescu (6-2 6-3 6-2), Spanish 31st seed Albert Montanes (6-3 6-4 6-4) and Aussie Lleyton Hewitt (6-2 6-3 6-4).
In the quarter-finals, the No.1 seed faced in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko, a man who had beaten him in their two previous meetings at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in November and then in Doha earlier this month.
That trend looked like continuing when the sixth seed led by a set and a break, before Federer turned on the afterburners to power home in four sets, 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5.
With the momentum behind him, the Swiss maestro monstered French 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-3 6-2 in the semis to earn a berth in his 22nd Grand Slam final.
Likewise, Murray has played the best tennis of his career in reaching the decider at Melbourne Park.
The Scot has dropped just one set in his six matches to date in becoming the first British man to reach the Australian Open final since John Lloyd in 1977.
And he now has the chance to create further history by breaking a 74-year drought stretching back to Fred Perry at the 1936 US Open - the last time a British male won a Grand Slam tournament.
Murray has barely been tested, with only big-serving Croatian Marin Cilic taking a set off the 22-year-old in the semi-finals.
Wins over Kevin Anderson (6-1 6-1 6-2), Marc Gicquel (6-1 6-4 6-3), Florent Serra (7-5 6-1 6-4) and 33rd seed John Isner (7-6 6-3 6-2) came easy but Murray saved his best for his quarter-final against world No.2 Rafael Nadal.
Murray blasted his way to a 6-3 7-6 3-0 lead before the Spaniard was forced to retire with a knee injury.
He will take a 6-4 winning record into the final against Federer but this will be the second time they will have met in a Grand Slam final.
Federer was too strong for the then 20-year-old in the 2008 US Open final, winning in straight sets.
This time, Murray goes into the match more experienced and in physically better shape.
It's a recipe for a classic.