Stan Wawrinka should benefit from the withdrawals from the defending Rogers Cup champion Andy Murray, compatriot Roger Federer and three-time former champion Rafael Nadal from withdrawing from the Masters 1,000 event in Montreal as the Swiss number two has been elevated to the second seeding.
Mikhail Youzhny will be Wawrinka's first opponent since he was ousted by former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the second round of Wimbledon.
Youzhny is towards the end of his career and he has been struggling with injuries and a loss of form which has seen him tumble down the rankings in recent months, therefore he is currently ranked at 61 in the world.
Wawrinka will be pleased that three of the members of the big four are out of the tournament as they are resting and preparing for the Rio Olympics but the two-time Grand Slam champion needs more matches under his belt and if he wins in Montreal he will put pressure on Federer's number three ranking.
Wawrinka's notable results
For the second consecutive year, Wawrinka entered a season as a Grand Slam champion and as usual, he begins his preparations for the Australian Open in Chennai and won his third consecutive title there which was his fourth overall.
The 2014 Australian Open champion had a credible title defence last year losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals but this year he suffered a fourth round exit at the hands of Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic despite staging a mini-comeback from two sets down to level the match but couldn't complete the comeback as he lost in the final set.
At the ATP 500 event in Dubai, Wawrinka won his second ATP World tour title of the year dropping only set en route defeating Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets to clinch the title.
The back-to-back Masters 1,000 North American hard courts at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open brought misery for the two-time Slam champion. At Indian Wells, Wawrinka lost to David Goffin in the fourth round and he suffered a disappointing second round exit to Andrey Kuznetsov in Miami.
Wawrinka's clay court season certainly had its ups and downs. The 2014 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters champion lost to former nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the event in the principality.
Nick Kyrgios handed Wawrinka a second round defeat at the Mutua Madrid Open and this was followed by a third round exit to Juan Monaco at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.
Wawrinka's fortunes turned around at his home event at the Geneva Open as he picked up his third title of his career in Switzerland and continued his remarkable events in finals, as he has now won ten consecutive finals, during that amazing run he has picked up two Grand Slam titles, and his last defeat in a final was at the hands of Nicolas Mahut in 's-Hertogenbosch in June 2013.
At the French Open, Wawrinka was the defending champion and he had a remarkable title defence by reaching the semifinals, however, he was completely outplayed by Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in four sets.
The grass court season was poor for Wawrinka as the grass is his weakest surface and he lost in the first round of the Aegon Championships at the Queen's Club and the two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist was ousted in the second round by Juan Martin del Potro at SW19.
Youzhny's notable results
The former world number eight began his year on the main tour in Dubai and lost in the first round to Malek Jaziri in straight sets.
Youzhny recorded his first tour win of the year in Indian Wells over Britain's Aljaz Bedene in straight sets but withdrew from his second round match to 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
At the Miami Open, Youzhny recorded an impressive first round victory over former French Open semifinalist Ernests Gulbis but lost to 20th seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire in the second round.
The clay court season was underwhelming for Youzhny who has previously reached the quarterfinals or better at all four Grand Slam events. A second round exit to Fabio Fognini occurred in Barcelona and after being a set down he withdrew from his first round match with experienced clay courter Thomaz Bellucci in Munich.
Youzhny suffered two five set losses at the French Open to Ivan Dodig in the first round and to Alexander Zverev in the second round of Wimbledon.
The veteran Russian's only two quarterfinal appearances occurred in the summer at the Mercedes Cup and Gstaad.
Their history
Youzhny and Wawrinka have played each other five times previously and the Russian is unbeaten against the Swiss number two on hard courts. This meeting at the Rogers Cup in Toronto will be their first meeting since the US Open in 2010.
The Russian leads their head-to-head 3-2 and he boasts an unbeaten 3-0 record on hard courts and Wawrinka is 2-0 on European clay courts against Youzhny.
Their first meeting was at the Rogers Cup in Montreal in 2007 and Youzhny was victorious 6-4, 6-4. Their second meeting happened on the Spanish clay courts of Barcelona and Wawrinka won that match 7-5, 6-1.
Wawrinka led their rivalry by winning their third meeting a few weeks later at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome in 2009 as he won that match again in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6.
Youzhny won their next two meetings in 2010 on North American hard courts once again as he came back from a set down to win in Miami and he produced an impressive comeback from two sets to one down to knock out Wawrinka to reach his second and most recent Grand Slam semifinal.
Who wins?
The two-time Grand Slam champion will be the favourite in this match despite not recording a victory over a slumping Youzhny on hard.
The Russian will be pleased to have this opportunity to play one of the world's best on a big stage again as he can rise to the occasion and he possesses a good backhand like Wawrinka.
Wawrinka can get erratic and he showcases his frustrations on the court by smashing racquets when his game is not firing on all cylinders.
Youzhny can show his emotion too as he has done in the past by smashing a racquet over his head which drew blood.
Youzhny has already played one match in Toronto and Wawrinka is usually vulnerable in the early rounds of tournaments and if the Russian can stay calm he could upset Wawrinka again.
The winner of this intriguing second round encounter will play 16th seed Jack Sock, Donald Young or Alexandr Dolgopolov in the third round.
This is the final match scheduled at the Rogers Cup and it should be an entertaining contest for the fans to see exquisite shot making.
Prediction: Wawrinka in three sets.