Alex de Minaur says he's looking forward to testing himself against the "GOAT" Novak Djokovic in Wednesday night's United Cup quarter-final against Serbia in Perth.
The men's singles match-up between de Minaur and Djokovic looms as one of the biggest clashes of the $US10 million ($A15 million) mixed-teams event.
De Minaur was crushed 6-2 6-1 6-2 by Djokovic in the fourth round of the Australian Open last year.
But de Minaur's thumping 6-4 6-2 win over world No.10 Taylor Fritz on Monday night has given his confidence a massive boost ahead of his re-match with Djokovic.
De Minaur rates Djokovic, a 24-time grand slam winner who at 36 years of age is still No.1 in the world, as the greatest men's player ever, edging out Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
"It's no secret Novak's level, it's incredible, and he's probably the GOAT if we're honest," de Minaur said.
"He started the year strong. It's going to be extremely tough.
"But it will be a challenge that I'll be looking forward to - hopefully going out there and showing what I can do."
Djokovic suffered a scare on Tuesday when he injured his wrist while practising.
The star veteran shook off the injury to help spearhead Serbia's 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic, and he's confident he will be fit to take on de Minaur.
Three-time grand slam quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic will face world No.121 Olga Danilovic in the women's singles.
If the tie goes to a live mixed doubles, Australia will hold a crucial edge with the powerful pairing of Matt Ebden and Storm Hunter.
Hunter is world No.1 in women's doubles, while Ebden is No.4 on the men's side.
The duo are unbeaten at this year's United Cup, and are planning to pair up in all four grand slams and potentially the Olympics this year.
"A couple months ago, Storm and I spoke about playing the slams this year, potentially Olympics as well," Ebden said.
"Then we both saw United Cup was on the cards and I said, 'Are you entering? We can practice together and start here in United Cup'.
"So it's the perfect start for us as a combination, and super special to play mixed in all the slams with an Aussie.
"That's what you want, in doubles and mixed, these team comps, it makes it extra special to get Aussie support supporting two Aussies.
"As a doubles player now and mixed doubles player, that's all I could ask for."
In Wednesday's other United Cup quarter-final, top seeds Poland will take on China.
Hubert Hurkacz and Zhizhen Zhang clash in the men's singles, before world No.1 Iga Swiatek and Qinwen Zheng face off.
