Could No. 1 Ash Barty and No. 2 Naomi Osaka, meet for the first time in 2021 for an Olympic gold medal?

Two marquee American names are missing from this year’s Olympic women’s singles event: For the first time since 1996, Serena Williams won’t be part of the competition; and, unfortunately, Coco Gauff will join her on the sidelines after testing positive for Covid last week. But the WTA has plenty of backup these days: its Top 3—Ash Barty, Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka—will be joined by a vast cast of potential medal contenders.

Here’s a look at who will face who, and who might end up with gold. Wouldn’t it be interesting if Barty and Osaka, the world’s top two players, met for the first time in 2021 for the gold medal? Alternatively, is there another outlier who can rise to the occasion, the way Monica Puig did in 2016?

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First Quarter

Ash Barty prioritized Wimbledon and the Olympics this season. She’s made good at the first of those tournaments; now she’ll try to make it a double. Her confidence should be sky-high right now, and there’s no reason to think that this year’s Miami champion will have any trouble shifting from grass to hard courts. But the road to gold may be a rocky one, even for the world No. 1.

Barty will start against Sara Sorribes Tormo, who is always a tough out, and who she has never faced. Also in Barty’s quarter are both French Open finalists, Barbora Krejcikova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Krejcikova is coming off a title run, on hard courts, in Prague, and is 20-1 since late May.

First-round matches to watch: Belinda Bencic vs. Jessica Pegula; Leylah Fernandez vs. Dayana Yastremska

Semifinalist: Barty

Ash Barty prioritized Wimbledon and the Olympics this season. She’s made good at the first of those tournaments; now she’ll try to make it a double.

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Second Quarter

Call it slugger’s corner: Aryna Sabalenka, Garbiñe Muguruza, Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina are the four seeds in this section. Sabalenka is the highest-ranked of the four, and has had the best season, but Muguruza and Kvitova are the ones with the major titles and previous Olympic experience on their résumés. Of the four, Muguruza would seem to have the toughest opener, against Veronika Kudermetova.

First-round match to watch: Caroline Garcia vs. Donna Vekic

Semifinalist: Sabalenka

Third Quarter

In the past, it has been hard to predict how Karolina Pliskova would fare from one week to the next. Will that change at all after her runner-up finish at Wimbledon? Pliskova will have her share of challenges in this section. She’ll start against Alizé Cornet; could play Ons Jabeur in the second round; Jen Brady or Jelena Ostapenko in the third; and, potentially, either Elina Svitolina or Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals. All of those players have a legitimate shot at the semis, and a medal.

First-round matches to watch: Jabeur vs. Carla Suarez Navarro; Jen Brady vs. Camila Giorgi; Sakkari vs. Anett Kontaveit

Semifinalist: Sakkari

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Can Naomi Osaka regain the world-beating confidence that she usually shows on those courts, and which she didn’t have on clay this spring?

Fourth Quarter

If there’s one player who has seemed to be unreservedly looking forward to the Olympic Games, it’s Naomi Osaka. She’s a native of Japan, of course, and she’ll also have a chance to return to her favorite surface, hard courts, for the first time since March. Can she regain the world-beating confidence that she usually shows on those courts, and which she didn’t have on clay this spring?

Osaka’s draw shouldn’t dampen her mood. She’ll start against Saisai Zheng, a player she has beaten in both of their WTA meetings (though Zheng did win a tight three-setter when they played at a lower-level event in 2015). The closest seed to her is Kiki Bertens, who is winding her career down at the moment. But a challenge could come from Osaka’s friend Iga Swiatek, if they meet in the quarterfinals.

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