World number one Novak Djokovic was handed a blockbuster Olympics opener on Thursday when he was drawn to face Juan Martin del Potro, who beat him for bronze at London in 2012. Djokovic, whose best performance was a bronze medal at the Beijing Games in 2008, is the top seed at the tournament which gets underway on Saturday. The Serb has an 11-3 record against the giant Argentine, although the two have not met for three years.
Djokovic, seeking to complete a Golden Slam of all four majors and Olympic gold, took revenge for his shattering loss at the London Games with a titanic five-set win in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2013. Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, comes into Rio with a world ranking of 145 having been as high as four in 2011 before his career was almost ended by four wrist operations.