Barty will represent Team World, while de Villiers lines up for Team South Africa when the two sides go against each other at Fancourt, George from 11-13 December.

Speaking exclusively to SABC Sport, the 2021 Wimbledon champion remembers the first time she crossed paths with the former Proteas captain at Liberty National Golf Club in 2022 for the inaugural Icons Series, the same year she retired from professional tennis.

"I'll need a lot of help from my team. He's an amazing golfer and as far as I'm concerned, he's one of the best cricketers to have ever walked the planet. His ability to play to all areas of the ground, his tactical awareness was incredible and he was always someone that I loved to watch," said Barty

"I first really met him back in 2022 when we played together at Liberty National and he was just a brilliant person and I know that a lot of the Australian cricketers who had time with him really enjoyed him as a person as well and they certainly weren't wrong.

He's a great human being. He's an excellent cricket player and I tell you what, he's a bloody good golfer too."

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The 30-year-old anticipates the golf course at Fancourt will challenge all the participants at the Icons Cup, while also adding that what makes the event unique is how it will bring people from different walks of life together to compete and have fun. 

"Iconic is the best word to describe it because I think it, you know, it's a golf course. Certainly when I looked at it online I said it was just blown away, just the visual demands of it,” she added. 

“I think it will challenge your golf in ways that you couldn't expect and it brings people from all over the world, from all walks of life, different sporting codes, brings them all together to compete and to have fun and I think that's what really makes the event so unique, you know, and to be able to share that and share that with so many icons, global icons, I'm very grateful to be a very small part of it."

The Icons Cup organisers have thus far released six high-profile names who will participate for Team World, with another three yet to be revealed. Barty will line up alongside captain Jose Olazobal, Brian Lara, Yuvraj Singh, John Terry and Dwight Yorke.