World number one Novak Djokovic returns to competitive singles tennis following his shock, third round defeat to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon in four sets which squandered the Serb's chances of completing the Calendar Year Grand Slam.
Gilles Muller is currently ranked at 37 in the world, and the big server from Luxembourg, has played some good tennis this year. He has reached two finals but unfortunately his woes in finals continued.
2016 has been a very good year for Djokovic as he has finally completed the Career Grand Slam by winning the French Open back in June and he currently has 12 Grand Slam singles titles just two behind his rival Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras' haul of 14 and five to equal Roger Federer's 17 Slams.
This Rogers Cup in Toronto has a wide open draw as former champions Andy Murray, Federer, Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are all absent from the event due to preparations for the Rio Olympics; Federer announced earlier today that he will not be playing competitive tennis for the rest of the year in order to rehab his knee.
Djokovic has triumphed twice in Montreal. Once in 2007, defeating Federer in three sets ,and Mardy Fish in 2011 in three sets. However, his solitary title in Toronto was four years ago defeating Richard Gasquet in straight sets.
How they got here?
As the top seed, Djokovic received a bye into the second round but he has already played a match in Toronto. The Serb played with his compatriot Nenad Zimonjic as part of their preparation for the Olympics but they lost their first round match in the final set tiebreak.
Muller defeated former world number 20 Dmitry Tursunov, who is struggling with injuries these days but it was a straightforward first round victory over Tursunov winning 7-6, 6-1.
A brief summary of Djokovic's year
The three-time Rogers Cup champion has had a spectacular season boasting a 46-4 win-loss record. The top seed began his year in Doha breezing through the draw and he thrashed Rafael Nadal in the final to pick up his first title of 2016.
Djokovic won his sixth Australian Open title in Melbourne defeating Andy Murray in the final for the fourth time which was his 11th Grand Slam title to equal Bjorn Borg's haul of 11.
At the North American Masters 1,000 hard court events at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open, Djokovic was triumphant in both events completing the Sunshine Double for the fourth time.
The world number's one clay court season was spectacular as he won the Mutua Madrid Open for the first time since 2011. Djokovic also won the French Open defeating Andy Murray in both finals but lost to Murray in the final in Rome and a shock second round defeat to Jiri Vesely at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters.
A brief summary of Muller's year
The left-hander lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals of the Apia International Sydney and he suffered a second round exit to John Millman at the Australian Open.
At the Sofia Open, Muller reached another semifinal however he lost to the top-seeded Spaniard, Roberto Bautista Agut and he troubled Rafael Nadal in the second round in Indian Wells but was eventually ousted by the former world number one in three sets.
Muller's tough draws continued losing in the first round of the Miami Open to Fernando Verdasco and eventual finalist Gael Monfils in Monte Carlo.
2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis handed another first round exit for Muller at the French Open who ended the clay court season winless.
The Luxembourgish transitioned to grass where he is a dangerous player and he recorded good wins over David Ferrer and Ivo Karlovic but lost to Nicolas Mahut in the final of the Ricoh Open.
Muller reached the quarterfinals of the Aegon Championships at the Queen's Club and the semifinals of the Aegon Open in Nottingham losing to Pablo Cuevas at the latter despite having match points.
Andrey Kuznetsov handed Muller a second round defeat at Wimbledon and he lost to Karlovic in the final of Newport which was Muller's fifth defeat in a ATP final.
Breakdown of their rivalry
Djokovic and Muller have faced each other twice previously and both meetings occurred at Grand Slam tournaments. The world number one leads their rivalry 2-0 and both of their meetings took place last year at the Australian Open and the French Open.
The reigning US Open, Australian Open and French Open champion was victorious in their fourth around encounter in Melbourne last year in straight sets and it was the same story in Paris a few months later.
Who wins?
The world number one is firmly the favourite to clinch his fourth title at the Rogers Cup in Toronto as his fellow rivals are not participating but Muller should not be taken lightly.
Muller has a very good first serve as a lefty and he has a powerful forehand but the world number one can put pressure on big servers with his returns and try to dictate the play.
However, Djokovic will need to be cautious as if he goes a break down and Muller is having a good serving day he could be in serious trouble.
Muller will certainly have looked at the match Querrey played against Djokovic at Wimbledon and he will try to implement a similar game plan.
The top seed has bounced back brilliantly every time he has suffered a defeat and he is expected to dominate the second half of the season again and he could possibly win the Olympics and the US Open which will top off an amazing season for the world number one.
The winner of this match will face Canadian wildcard Peter Polansky or Radek Stepanek in the third round.
Prediction: Djokovic in straight sets.