Del Potro has also fallen off in the ATP rankings, now just No. 145 in the world. The Argentine beat Djokovic for bronze in London four years ago.
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The top-ranked Djokovic, a 12-time major champion, is seeking his first Olympic title.
Murray’s preparation for the event has also featured practice sessions against Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who is planning a return from a wrist injury.
Andy Murray (Great Britain) was the gold medalist that year after beating rival Roger Federer in the championship round.
The reigning Olympic champion, who has landed a tough first round draw against unseeded Serbian Victor Troicki on Sunday, laughed: “He’s a big boy and I’m not quite as strong as him”.
Murray said it was still a high-quality field despite the absences of the top-10 players. “He likes the hard court”.
It would certainly not be a surprise if, like two of this year’s three grand slam tournaments, the gold came down to a final between the world’s top two players.
Team GB Chef de Mission, Mark England, headed the panel that chose Murray and he said: “The conviction with which Andy spoke to me about the honour of carrying the flag only underlined why he is such an exceptional individual, and absolutely the right choice”.
But the honour has instead been bestowed upon 29-year-old Murray just weeks after he secured his second Wimbledon title.
Murray, however, said the competition would still be fierce.
The Murray brothers face two other Brazilians, Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa, in the first round. As quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald, Murray said “I’m going to blame the photographers for what happened last night, because I was being given directions and then ended up putting the flag in Princess Anne’s face”.
“He explained why he thought I’d be a good person to do it. Expect them to perform well”.
World number one Djokovic has never won a gold medal and, after he finally landed the French Open earlier this summer, it is the one glaring hole on his CV. A lot of the top-20 players are here.
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Wawrinka’s Swiss team-mate Roger Federer has taken the rest of the season off to recover from knee surgery, while Milos Raonic and Tomas Berdych cited concerns over the Zika virus and Dominic Thiem prioritised the ATP Tour.
