Singles world No.1s Novak Djokovic and Ash Barty will both play for a second Olympic gold medal when they embark on their mixed doubles campaigns at Tokyo 2020.
The 16-team mixed doubles draw was released on Tuesday, with Djokovic partnering fellow Serb Nina Stojanovic and Australia’s Barty teaming with compatriot John Peers.
DRAW: Tokyo 2020 Olympics mixed doubles
It gives both Djokovic and Barty a shot at double gold in Tokyo; Djokovic remains alive in the singles tournament while Barty has progressed to the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles with countrywoman Storm Sanders.
While unseeded, Barty and Peers could form a formidable partnership – both are Grand Slam doubles champions – when they face Argentines Nadia Podoroska and Horacio Zeballos.
The top seeds are French duo Kristina Mladenovic and Nicolas Mahut, while the No.2 seeds are sure to capture plenty of attention, given it is the high-profile Greek pairing of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari.
Several other singles stars have entered the mixed doubles draw, including Poland’s Iga Swiatek (alongside Lukasz Kubot), Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (with Gabriela Dabrowski) and the ROC pairing of Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Auger-Aliassime and Dabrowski take on Tsitsipas and Sakkari in the pick of the first-round clashes, while Swiatek and Kubot open against Spaniards Paula Badosa and Pablo Carreno Busta in another absorbing match-up.
Mladenovic and Mahut have drawn recent Roland Garros mixed doubles finalists Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev.
American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who won mixed doubles gold with Jack Sock in Rio 2016, this time partners Rajeev Ram, who won silver with Venus Williams at the same Games.
Mattek-Sands and Ram are the No.3 seeds, while Rublev and Pavlyuchenkova are seeded fourth.