Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., returns a shot during a practice session in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard has received a tough draw at the Rio Olympics.
The 39th-ranked player from Westmount, Que., could face No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany in the second round if she gets past American Sloane Stephens in her first match.
Stephens is ranked 22nd in the world but has been as high as No. 11.
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On the men's side of the draw, which won't include Canadian star Milos Raonic after he pulled out because of health concerns, Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil also has a tough road as he faces No. 6-seeded Frenchman Gaël Monfils in the first round.
The two played each other last week in the second round of the Rogers Cup with Monfils winning and eventually making the semi-finals.
Should he advance past Monfils, Pospisil would play the winner of Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva against Italian Thomas Fabbiano.
"It will be tough," Pospisil said. "I played a great first set against Monfils last week at Rogers Cup and let it get away from me in the second set. I will try to produce the same level I did in the first set and carry that through but it will be an exciting match."
Bouchard will be making her Olympic debut.
"She [Stephens] is very strong and she's been playing well lately," Bouchard said. "She has a very good forehand, a lot of tools. My goal is to use mine. We played once this year and I won the match and played well [7-5, 7-5 at Indian Wells in May]. I want to use that match to help me with this one. I'll be aggressive and battle, but I also want to have fun out there. I'm at the Olympics."
Bouchard will also play doubles with Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski. They will open against Poland's Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Paula Kania but could end up facing American sisters Venus and Serena Williams in the second round.
Pospisil and Toronto's Daniel Nestor, who is participating in his sixth Olympics, are seeded No. 7 in men's doubles and will face New Zealanders Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus in Round 1.
"Things have been going well," Nestor said. "I'm happy to be here as it's a great opportunity. I think we have a chance to medal but every match is tough and comes down to the wire and it will be about who plays better in the big points. Every team is going to be tough. We are ready for our opponents but they are probably ready for us too."
Nestor and Sebastien Lareau are the only Canadians to have won an Olympic medal in tennis, having paired up for gold in men's doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games.
The tennis touranament opens Saturday.
Meantime, top-seeded Serbian star Novak Djokovic will face 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the first round on the men's side.
Del Potro's ranking has fallen to 145th after he endured three operations on his left wrist. But at his first Grand Slam in 2 1/2 years, he upset fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka at Wimbledon last month. The Argentine beat Djokovic for bronze in London four years ago.
Djokovic, a 12-time major champion, is seeking his first Olympic title. A potential semi-final opponent in Rio de Janeiro is third-seeded Rafael Nadal, who hasn't played since withdrawing from the French Open because of a left wrist injury.
Reigning gold medalist Andy Murray of Britain could face fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori in the semis. The Wimbledon champion plays 35th-ranked Viktor Troicki in the first round in the 64-player draw, which was announced Thursday. Play starts Saturday.
Wawrinka and Swiss teammate Roger Federer both pulled out of the Olympics because of injuries, leaving the Rio Games without two of the top four men in the rankings.
In the women's draw, top-ranked Serena Williams, the reigning gold medalist, could face her sister in the semi-finals. Also on her half of the draw is Spain's Garbine Muguruza, who beat the 22-time major champion in this year's French Open final. And a potential quarter-final opponent is Italy's Roberta Vinci, who stunned Williams in last year's U.S. Open semis to end her Grand Slam bid.
With files from the Associated Press