The first day of action at the Olympic Tennis Centre will see none of the top 3 seeds in the singles play with Kei Nishikori and Agnieszka Radwanska headlining proceedings.
The action on Centre Court will begin with Nishikori against Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The Japanese player currently had a winning head-to-head of 3-1 against Ramos-Vinolas, however, their last meeting was in 2013. Nishikori is expected to come through, but it won’t be plain sailing for the fourth seed against a player who has reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and won his maiden ATP title this year.
Nishikori plays in the first of six matches that will occur in the premier stadium, which has a capacity of 10,000. Following the Japanese star will be seeded players Carla Suarez Navarro, who faces a tricky task against the inconsistent Ana Ivanovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Venus Williams, and Gael Monfils.
Top seed Novak Djokovic will be starting his campaign on Court 1, but in the men’s doubles competition. Partnering Nenad Zimonjić, they will play Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Marin Draganja in what will be the last match to occur on the court. Prior to Djokovic’s Olympic debut, Canadian Open runner-up Madison Keys will start her medal bid against Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic in what will be their first ever meeting. Following Keys will be former US Open champion Marin Cilic against Grigor Dimitrov in what could be a titanic clash, if both players are able to play their best tennis. Agnieszka Radwanska is expected to move past China’s Saisai Zheng in her opening match. Zheng has lost in the first round in five out of her previous six tournaments. The final singles match to occur on Court 1 will be Borna Coric against the very talented Gilles Simon, who is a big contender for an Olympic medal.
The full order of play
The weather forecast
