Who is best positioned to end Canada's Olympic medal drought in tennis?

Daniel Nestor doesn't take any risks with his Olympic gold medal. 

"I keep it in a safety deposit box," the Canadian doubles legend said. "My kids have only seen it once or twice in their lives. I'll get asked to do appearances and they want me to bring my medal, but it's such a hassle."

Nestor considers the gold medal, which he claimed alongside Sebastien Lareau at the Sydney Summer Games in 2000, to be a career highlight equalled only by a pair of Wimbledon titles. 

"I always characterize Wimbledon and the Olympics together," said Nestor, who won eight doubles Grand Slams and four more in mixed doubles. "Very special moments in my career. The Olympic gold medal helped my confidence moving forward because, up until that point, I hadn't won a Grand Slam. It was a big moment for me."

Nestor says keeping the medal locked away gives him some "peace of mind."

That gold medal represents the only podium appearance for Canada in Olympic tennis. Starting on Saturday, the quest to end that drought will begin in Paris. Canada will have five players competing at Roland Garros with two entries in men's and women's singles, one entry in men's and women's doubles, and one entry in mixed doubles. 

Here's a look at the road to the podium for each of the contenders. 

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Canada's best bet for a medal appears to be in women's doubles as Gaby Dabrowski and Leylah Annie Fernandez have been slotted in as the No. 5 seeds. 

"Gaby is, right now, arguably the best doubles player in the world," boasted Team Canada coach Heidi El Tabakh. "She's had an incredible year, starting from the middle of last year, so she's tough to beat. No one wants to play her."

Dabrowski just reached the finals at Wimbledon alongside partner Erin Routliffe, who represents New Zealand. That duo won the US Open last year. They have a sparkling 41-16 record since joining forces in Montreal last August. Routliffe has rocketed to No. 1 in the world while Dabrowski, who missed four events during the clay season due to an injury, is up to a career high of No. 3. 

"I think everything in her game, it's just five per cent better and that's all that it takes," El Tabakh said of the 32-year-old Ottawa native. "I think her forehand improved tremendously. She's now fearless and she's confident and that combination is lethal. She's hitting the ball as good as she ever has."

Dabrowski and Fernandez picked up a win together to seal Canada's semifinal victory over Czechia at the Billie Jean King Cup at the end of last season. 

"They'll be ready to pour their heart out on the court," said El Tabakh, who also serves as Canada's captain at the Billie Jean King Cup. "That I know for sure."

"Gaby is playing at her best and Leylah's such a tough competitor," said Nestor. "She's obviously someone you want to have by your side. That would be, on paper, Canada's best chance for a medal."

Dabrowski and Fernandez will open the Olympics against the French team of Varvara Gracheva and Clara Burel. If the draw holds to form, the Canadians will face No. 2 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova from Czechia in the quarterfinals. Dabrowski and Fernandez defeated Krejcikova and Siniakova at last year's Billie Jean King Cup. 

Dabrowski is playing in her third Olympics. She fell in the first round alongside Sharon Fichman in Tokyo in 2021 and lost in the second round beside Genie Bouchard in Rio in 2016. 

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Felix Auger-Aliassime enters the Olympics as Canada's top-ranked singles player. He's 19th in the ATP rankings, but the No. 13 seed at the Olympics as several top players are not taking part. 

Auger-Aliassime is coming off a winless grass-court campaign, but is 13-6 on clay this season and reached the fourth round at the French Open. 

"Since the start of the the clay season I feel like things are clicking more and more," the Montreal native stressed. "I'm practising well and winning some matches as well. It's not always perfect, but I feel like I'm coming back to a really good level."

Auger-Aliassime reached a career high ranking of No. 6 in 2022. 

Auger-Aliassime warmed up for the Olympics by splitting a pair of matches at the Swiss Open last week. He will face 38th-ranked Marcos Giron in the first round. The American is coming in hot having just won a title on grass in the United States. 

"Giron is not a player who is going to overpower you and you have to worry about huge weapons right away early in the match," said Team Canada coach Frank Dancevic. "It's going to give Felix time to build his game and work his way into the match, which is good for him."

Auger-Aliassime is competing in his second Olympics. He was the No. 9 seed in Tokyo, but got upset by Australia's Max Purcell in the first round. 

If he advances in Paris, Auger-Aliassime will face the winner of the match between Germany's Maximilian Marterer and Dusan Lajovic. If the draw plays out as expected, Auger-Aliassime is in line to face No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev in the third round. 

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Fernandez enters the Olympics as Canada's top-ranked female singles player. She's the 16th and final seed, but the draw did the Laval, Que. native no favours. Fernandez will face 2023 Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova of Czechia, who is ranked 29th and just reached the final of a tune-up event in Italy. 

"Look, there's no easy match here," said El Tabakh. "It's definitely going to be a battle. Muchova is a very, very tough player, but Leylah is more than capable of doing a lot of damage."

Fernandez, who is 0-1 against Muchova, led Canada to the Billie Jean King Cup title last year. The 21-year-old was named the Heart Award recipient as the finals MVP. 

"It's definitely going to be tough, but Leylah brings her best tennis in competitions like this when you play for a medal and you play for your country," said El Tabakh. "She gets her energy from the crowd. The entire Canadian staff is going to be behind her so it's a similar atmosphere from the Billie Jean King Cup."

Fernandez made her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 losing in the second round.

"Tokyo was special, but with no spectators [due to COVID restrictions] it didn't feel, sadly, as special on the court," El Tabakh said. "The crowds are everything."

After a frustrating second-round loss at Wimbledon, Fernandez is channeling her inner Kobe Bryant. She recently received his book, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, as a gift from her father and coach Jorge Fernandez. 

"It was a wonderful gift," she said. "l finished it fairly quickly. I learned Kobe was able to just keep his head down and keep working on the details through injuries and through the bad moments that were happening off court. For him to be laser focused on his fundamentals was very impressive, very motivating."

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Bianca Andreescu is making her Olympic debut in Paris. 

"She's like a little kid at Disney World," said El Tabakh with a smile. "It's so great to see. I feel like Bianca's back. She’s motivated. She's healthy and she's excited to be here."

After missing more than nine months with a back injury, Andreescu hit the ground running when she returned at Roland Garros in May. She made a run to the third round at the French Open. Andreescu followed that up by making a final at a grass-court event and reaching the third round at Wimbledon.  

"She's very motivated," said J.T. Nishimura, who has transitioned from Andreescu's hitting partner to coach this season. "She realized how much she missed the tour and how much she loves competing. I think she was really hungry to come back."

Andreescu is up to No. 171 in the WTA rankings. She entered the Olympics on a protected ranking. 

The 24-year-old from Mississauga, Ont. won the 2019 US Open and brings an internal confidence that her best can be the best at any given event. 

"We know she can be the best in the world but it takes time," Nishimura said. "She's still getting back into match shape and getting used to those big stages. That's, honestly, where she plays her best tennis, but the match fitness and feeling those nerves again, it's still fairly new again."

Andreescu will open the Olympics against Denmarks Clara Tauson, who is No. 63 in the WTA rankings. If she wins, Andreescu could face No. 13 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia in the second round. American flag-bearer and No. 2 seed Coco Gauff projects to be her opponent if Andreescu makes it to the third round. 

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Milos Raonic is returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2012 in London where he lost to France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a marathon second round match. 

Raonic is 178th in the world and made it into the Olympic draw, like Andreescu, thanks to a protected ranking. He has only played five events this season, but when healthy the 33-year-old from Thornhill, Ont. is always dangerous because of his booming serve. 

"We practised and he got me good," Auger-Aliassime said with a grin. "I can tell you he's playing good. Even though he's been in and out of the tour for the last few years, I feel like we forget how good he really was, you know, No. 3 in the world, Grand Slam finalist [at Wimbledon in 2016]. Obviously, we talk about the serve, but he's very smart in the way he plays."

Raonic will be playing his first clay-court tournament since Rome in 2020. He hasn't played at Roland Garros since 2017. 

"The serve is just incredible on any surface," said Dancevic. "Whether he's playing on hard, grass, clay, the serve's a major weapon. We're hoping it will be a little bit quicker conditions. Maybe it will be hotter. Maybe the courts will be a little drier. It would help his serve. It would help the kick bounce and help get those extra free points."

Raonic bypassed the clay season later in his career as injuries piled up, but he has a solid record on the surface (65-37) and reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2014. 

"He's healthy," Dancevic stressed. "He's feeling good. He hasn't had any injuries this week and we'll see how his body holds up in the matches."

Raonic faces Germany's Dominik Koepfer, who is No. 63 in the ATP rankings, in the first round. If he advances, Raonic will take on the winner of the match between No. 14 seed Arthur Fils of France and Matteo Arnaldi of Italy. 

"I'm sure Milos is going to be motivated," Nestor said of his longtime Davis Cup teammate. "He didn't go there to socialize."

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Auger-Aliassime and Raonic will also play doubles together. 

"We've done some practice sessions leading up to the tournament, but we'll have to adapt and see how they mould together," acknowledged Dancevic. "I feel like it's the same for other countries, who are going to have to mix and match with players not used to playing together."

Auger-Aliassime and Raonic last teamed up on clay in Rome in 2020 when they fell in the second round.

"I don't think they need to force too much serve and volleying," Nestor said. "Big serve, short ball after, and come to the net, and that kind of approach may be better than trying to dig out volleys that they're not accustomed too. Once one guy is closer to the net and the other guy's at the baseline in that cross-court rally, they're in pretty good shape and hitting a lot of forehands. It's a very dangerous team."

Auger-Aliassime and Raonic will face No. 3 seeds Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul of the United States in the first round.  

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Auger-Aliassime is also playing mixed doubles with Dabrowski, which makes him the only Canadian taking part in three draws in Paris. 

Nestor warns that a heavy workload can be tricky to handle. He also played singles in Sydney and upset Patrick Rafter in the second round.  

"I actually was doing OK in singles," he recalled. "But in the back of my mind when I played a third-round singles match, I was thinking I don't want to exert too much energy here, because I know I'm probably not going to win a singles medal."

Nestor lost that third-round singles match but went on, of course, to win gold in doubles. 

The tennis competition only lasts nine days at the Olympics so the schedule will be packed. But Auger-Aliassime, who will turn 24 next month, is in great shape. 

"He's so fit and can play four, five hours a day," Dancevic assured. "He's been training every day. We've been doing two-hour sessions in the morning and two-hour sessions in the afternoon and he's ready. He's physically ready to play three events. The doubles isn't so taxing physically for him. I'm not worried about him playing three events this week. We've spoken about it. We're going to give him adequate rest leading up to the matches."

The mixed doubles draw only has 16 teams so all it takes is two wins to get to the medal round. Dabrowski and Auger-Aliassime will face Britain's Heather Watson and Joe Salisbury in their opening match. 

Dabrowski and Auger-Aliassime also played together in Tokyo where they lost in the first round to the No. 2 seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari. 

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Nestor's advice to Team Canada is simple. 

"Don't get distracted," he said. "I mean, it's so hard when you're at the event. There's so much going on and it's so exciting. You get to meet all sorts of different people and watch different sports and you're part of a team and you don't really want to miss out on that experience."

Nestor played in six Olympics and the one time he didn't stay in the Olympic Village with other athletes was in Sydney when he won the gold medal. This year, Canada's tennis players made the decision to bypass the Village and stay at a hotel, which is closer to Roland Garros.

Team Canada doesn't want to leave anything to chance whether it be traffic or an uncomfortable bed. This is a rare opportunity, after all. 

"That's the special thing that we don't have in any other tennis competition, the fact it's every four years," noted Auger-Aliassime. "That adds pressure and a bit of excitement and I think motivation. You want to leave everything out there regardless of the result. You want to feel like you did everything you could."