Kei Nishikori, the fourth seed in Rio has had a good 2016 campaign and he is due a big title under his belt, as Japan's number one has had to battle through injuries over and over again and still produces good tennis.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas will be representing Spain in his first Olympic Games at, 28-years-old and, the Spaniard earned the right to be here as he reached his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open this year.
This will be Nishikori's third Olympic Games representing Japan and the world number six has reached two Masters 1,000 finals this year at the Miami Open and Rogers Cup in Toronto last week, losing to world number one Novak Djokovic on both occasions.
The Spaniard reached a career high ranking of 31 last month, and he will be a dangerous opponent for Nishikori in their first encounter.
Nishikori's Olympic history
The 2014 US Open finalist participated in his first Olympics in Beijing back in 2008 at the age of 18, and he lost his first round singles match to Germany's Rainer Schuttler in three sets.
Four years later, Nishikori competed at the Olympics in London which was held at Wimbledon on his worst surface, grass but the Japanese number one is still a dangerous player on that surface.
Nishikori was seeded 15th in the singles draw and he gained his first win at the Olympics against Australia's Bernard Tomic in two tight tiebreaks, which was a very good win for Nishikori, as Tomic was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon the year previously.
In the second round, Nishikori dispatched Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in three sets and in the third round, Nishikori recorded an impressive win over Spain's fourth seed, David Ferrer, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 to reach his first Olympics quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Nishikori lost to eight-seeded Argentine, Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets who went on to take the bronze medal.
Nishikori also participated in the doubles event with his compatriot Go Soeda, however, they were dealt with a tough draw, and they lost in the first round in three sets to the defending champions and the Swiss pairing of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka who were seeded sixth.
Ramos-Vinolas' notable results
2016 has been a career-best year for the lesser known Spaniard as he has reached a career-high ranking and picked up his first ATP World Tour title this summer.
Ramos-Vinolas reached the second round of the Australian Open for the first time in his career, as he suffered four consecutive first round exits prior, and he lost to 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic in the second round but he recorded a straightforward, straight sets victory over Borna Coric in the first round.
The Spaniard struggled during the South American, Golden Swing, clay court campaign, and he participated at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, where he defeated Nick Kyrgios in straight sets in the second round, but lost to Gael Monfils in straight sets in the third round.
At the Miami Open, he won his opening round match but lost to experienced Frenchman, Richard Gasquet in the second round.
He once again transitioned from hard courts to clay courts, and his clay court campaign on the red dirt of Europe, got off to a bad start as he lost to his compatriot, Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round in Monte Carlo.
Ramos-Vinolas was handed with another two tough draws at the Masters 1,000 events in Madrid and Rome, and they culminated with second round defeats to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych respectively but he took a set off Tsonga in a close match in Madrid.
At the French Open, Ramos-Vinolas played scintillating tennis throughout the tournament and he recorded an impressive third round victory over Jack Sock in five sets, and he followed this victory by reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, where he dispatched Milos Raonic easily in straight sets.
At Wimbledon, Ramos-Vinolas was seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career, and he defeated last year's quarterfinalist Vasek Pospisil in the first round and defeated Viktor Troicki in the second round in five sets, who went berzerk at the umpire following the conclusion of the match, and his tournament was halted in the third round by Gasquet on Middle Sunday. .
The Spaniard went back on the clay courts of Bastad and he defeated compatriots David Ferrer in the semifinals and Fernando Verdasco in the final to win his first ATP title.
Who wins?
Nishikori is a very good hard court player and he displayed his hard court credentials in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup last week when he thrashed Stan Wawrinka in straight sets, and he has shown his hard court pedigree by defeating Djokovic in the semifinals of the US Open in 2014.
Ramos-Vinolas is a left-handed tennis player, who possesses a two-handed backhand, and he is an aggressive player, however, Nishikori is a good returner, and the Spaniard is not the best of servers on tour.
The fourth seed is drawn in the bottom half of the draw and has benefitted from Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka's withdrawals from the Olympics which has bumped up his seeding.
He has a very good chance of making the semifinals which guarantees him to at least play for a medal, however, Gael Monfils, Grigor Dimitrov, and Marin Cilic are lurking in his quarter of the draw which could prove to be a difficult task should Nishikori get there.
The Spaniard has good endurance and he showed that at the French Open and Wimbledon and having a wins over Ferrer and Raonic under his belt will give him confidence going into this encounter with Nishikori.
Representing your country at the Olympics means there's more pressure on your shoulders to perform well, and there are no points on offer at this tournament.
This is the first match scheduled on Centre Court at 10:45am local time, and the winner of this contest will play Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis or Australia's John Millman in the second round.
Prediction: Nishikori in straight sets.