World number one Novak Djokovic will be representing Serbia in his third consecutive Olympic Games, and the 12-time Grand Slam champion has had a stellar 2016 campaign.
Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, has endured virtually two years on the sidelines with a wrist injury that required surgery and the Tower of Tandil is looking to get back to the upper echelons of tennis.
Djokovic will be full of confidence competing at the Rio Olympics as he won the Rogers Cup in Toronto last week which was his recorded 30th Masters 1,000 title, and he has finally won the French Open in June which completed his long awaited Career Grand Slam.
Both Djokovic and del Potro are the last two holders of the bronze medal with the Serb attaining it in 2008 in Bejing, and del Potro in 2012 when he defeated Djokovic.
Djokovic's Olympic history
The world number one's Olympics debut was in Beijing back in 2008 at the age of 21-years-old, and the Serb won his first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open earlier that year.
Djokovic was seeded third in Beijing, and he recorded victories over Robby Ginepri, Rainer Schuttler and Mikhail Youzhny all in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Djokovic was victorious over the charismatic Frenchman, Gael Monfils in three sets, and in the semifinals, Djokovic lost to his rival Rafael Nadal in three sets, and the Spaniard went on to claim the gold medal.
Following his defeat to Nadal in the semifinals, Djokovic participated in the bronze medal match, and he was victorious by defeating James Blake in straight sets to claim his first medal.
The Serb also participated in the doubles event with his compatriot, Nenad Zimonjic, and the duo was unsuccessful as they lost in the first round.
In 2012, Djokovic participated at the Olympics in London, which was held at Wimbledon, and the Serb surrendered his Wimbledon title to Roger Federer in the semifinals at SW19 a few weeks prior.
The world number one was seeded number two, four years ago and he defeated Fabio Fognini in the first round in straight sets, former world number one Andy Roddick in the second round, and Lleyton Hewitt in three sets to reach his second consecutive quarterfinals at the Olympics.
In the quarterfinals, Djokovic defeated France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets, however, he lost in the semifinals for the second time, and this time, it was to rival, Andy Murray who went on to win the gold medal.
Djokovic relinquished his bronze medal as he lost to del Potro in straight sets in the bronze medal match.
The Serb also represented Serbia in the doubles event with Viktor Troicki, but once again, Djokovic tasted defeat in the first round of the doubles.
del Potro's Olympics history
Juan Martin del Potro was at the peak of his powers when he competed at the Olympics for the first time in 2012. The then 23-year-old was seeded eighth, and he defeated Ivan Dodig and Andreas Seppi in straight sets in his opening two matches.
"The Tower of Tandil" defeated 12th-seeded Frenchman, Gilles Simon in the third round in three sets, and 15th seed Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals in straight sets to reach the semifinals.
In the semifinals, del Potro played top seed Roger Federer, and the duo made history by competing in the longest tennis match in Olympic history that lasted 4 hours and 26 minutes.
del Potro was defeated by the seven-time Wimbledon champion, 19-17 in the final set, and subsequently qualified for the bronze medal match and claimed the medal by defeating Djokovic.
Their history
The two Olympic bronze medalists have competed 14 times, and the Serb has dominated their head-to-head by leading 11-3.
Del Potro and Djokovic have met on all three surfaces, and Djokovic leads 8-2 on hard courts, 2-0 on clay and they are tied at 1-1 on grass courts.
Djokovic has won all four of their Grand Slam meetings, as he was victorious at the US Open in the third round of the US Open in 2007, and in the quarterfinals five years later in straight sets on both occasions.
The Serb was victorious in their third round meeting in four sets at the French Open in 2011, and their semifinal clash at Wimbledon in 2013 was a classic five-set battle that took 4 hours and 43 minutes, making it the longest semifinal in Wimbledon history eclipsing the one set by Djokovic's coach, Boris Becker and Andy Murray's coach Ivan Lendl in 1989.
Del Potro's first victory over Djokovic was in a Davis Cup tie in 2011 between Serbia and Argentina, however the Serb retired from the second set that allowed the Argentine to gain his first win over him.
The 2009 US Open champion followed his first win by winning the bronze medal match in 2012, and in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in three sets.
Who wins?
The world number one would have been bitterly disappointed to have left London without a medal, however, he has improved a lot since then, and Boris Becker has been a good addition to his coaching team.
Del Potro has shown glimpses of his former self and in the second round of Wimbledon this year he dispatched, two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka.
The Argentine will have to serve well in this match as Djokovic is arguably the best returner in the history of men's tennis, and del Potro isn't able to fully execute a two-handed backhand which makes the wrist uncomfortable when attempts it.
Djokovic will know this, and he will he target that weakness in del Potro's game, however, Djokovic is usually vulnerable in early rounds of tournaments, and he will have to start fast as del Potro is a dangerous player.
The former top four player will think of the memories he had in London albeit being on a different surface and del Potro will believe that he has a good shot of being Djokovic.
Del Potro will have the majority of the crowd on his side as the match is being played in South America, and Djokovic doesn't like it when his opponent has the crowd on his side, he usually becomes erratic and reacts to the crowd which usually results in him getting booed.
Djokovic is a very good hard court player as he likes to dictate play from the baseline, and since del Potro is a tall player, the Serb will throw in some drop shots to get his opponent on the move.
This test could be good for the Serb earlier on as he is set for a collision course with Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and Andy Murray in the final.
The winner of this match will face Portugal's Joao Sousa or Netherlands' Robin Haase in the second round.
This is the final match scheduled on Centre Court at the Olympic Tennis Center, and it will follow the conclusion of the match between, Djokovic's fellow French Open champion Garbine Muguruza and his compatriot, and former world number one Jelena Jankovic.
Prediction: Djokovic in straight sets.