Each 4 years (or so), tennis offers us a fifth main. Nicely, kind of. Tennis on the Olympics generally gives titanic heavyweight matchups — and generally delivers surprises.
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It will likely be onerous to prime Andy Murray vs. Roger Federer and Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova for gold medals in 2012. It is smart that Murray and Rafael Nadal have mixed for 3 gold medals. Nevertheless, Nicolas Massu and Monica Puig having singles golds whereas Federer and Novak Djokovic don’t makes rather less sense.
As with the 2012 Olympics, which befell at Wimbledon’s All England Membership, the 2024 event in Paris will unfold at an awfully acquainted location: Roland Garros, residence of the French Open. Accidents have taken out some extremely ranked gamers, however all the males’s and ladies’s semifinalists from this 12 months’s French Open are within the Olympic subject, as are Nadal, the 14-time French Open champion, and Murray, a two-time gold medalist.
In different phrases, there are many storylines to observe.
Wimbledon simply ended, however one other Slam(ish) product begins in simply two weeks. Listed here are the names to know forward of the Video games.
Males’s preview
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Carlos Alcaraz: It in all probability goes with out saying that the man who’s gained the previous two Slams heads to Paris because the No. 1 risk. After taking down each Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev in 5 units to win his first French Open title, Alcaraz steamrolled Djokovic to win his second straight Wimbledon crown. Each runs required perseverance — he dropped a complete of 10 units on the two tournaments and performed in seven tiebreakers (profitable six) — however he is now gained 4 of the previous seven Slams he is entered. And he solely turned 21 two months in the past. Wow.
Jannik Sinner: Sinner gained 25 of his first 26 matches of 2024 and took the Australian Open title and the No. 1 rating for the primary time in June. He is 0-2 towards Alcaraz, although, which makes him the No. 2 favourite in Paris.
There are few issues in sports activities extra entertaining than an Alcaraz-Sinner matchup for the time being, and the considered a gold medal match between them is very tantalizing if the draw cooperates.
Alexander Zverev: Not together with harm retirements, Zverev has gained 21 of his previous 24 matches at Roland Garros. He reached the finals this 12 months and was a set away from his first Slam title earlier than Alcaraz stormed again to win in 5. In fact, if we’re counting the Olympics as Slams, then he is already acquired a title: He beat Djokovic, amongst others, to win gold in Tokyo three years in the past.
Novak Djokovic: He is battling by means of his most irritating season in ages. For under the second time in 14 years, he is did not win one of many first three Slams of the 12 months. He hasn’t crushed a top-10 participant on clay for the reason that 2023 French Open. He is 37, and he tore his meniscus barely a month in the past.
He is additionally the all-time Slam titles chief and gained a match with the torn meniscus on the French Open, then reached the Wimbledon remaining (albeit with a really lucky draw) simply a few weeks after surgical procedure. At finest, he is the No. 3 favourite in Paris, however … he nonetheless may be the No. 3 favourite with one good knee at age 37!
Casper Ruud: Blessed with torque-heavy topspin, Ruud was constructed for clay. He is reached the semifinals of three straight French Opens and went to the finals twice. At the same time as his outcomes on different surfaces have wavered, he is nonetheless gone 21-5 on clay (6-2 towards top-20 opponents) over the previous 12 months. Norway’s extra of a Winter Olympics nation, however he is acquired a robust probability to medal.
Lengthy photographs
Stefanos Tsitsipas: It has been a irritating couple of years for Tsitsipas, however whereas outcomes have dried up on different surfaces, he is nonetheless made the French Open quarterfinals in every of the previous two years after reaching the semis in 2020 and the finals in 2021. If he will do harm in a serious event, it is fairly prone to be on clay at this level.
Daniil Medvedev: He is made the finals of 5 of the previous seven hard-court Slams, and whereas he is by no means made the semis at Roland Garros, he is reached not less than the spherical of 16 in 14 of his previous 15 Slams. At worst, he is the fourth-best participant on the earth, and he is in regards to the surest factor within the sport on the subject of avoiding upsets. That makes him a risk.
Jan-Lennard Struff: Now let’s get to an extended lengthy shot. At age 34, the 6-foot-4 Struff has by no means gained greater than 54% of his tour matches in a given 12 months, however he is 23-15 (60.5%) in 2024, 11-4 on clay (73.3%) and he is reached three of his 4 profession finals since final Could. An Olympic run could be fairly the cap on a late-career renaissance for the large man.
Coolest Olympic story
Moez Echargui: He is 31, has by no means performed a top-50 opponent and has a career-high rating of 271st. His greatest honor, apart from enjoying for the Tunisian Davis Cup staff, may be profitable the Mountain West’s Co-Participant of the 12 months award at Nevada. However he gained the 2023 African Video games, and it certified him for a spot within the Olympic subject. He will get to play at Roland Garros. How cool is that? And the way cool would it not be if he acquired to play a Nadal or a Djokovic within the first spherical?
The Olympic miracle
Rafael Nadal: Veterans and comebacks are creating various enjoyable Olympic subplots. On the ladies’s aspect, you have acquired gamers resembling 34-year-old Caroline Wozniacki and 36-year-old Angelique Kerber, the silver medalist in 2016, making post-motherhood comebacks. The lads’s draw offers us much more of those tales (properly, with out the motherhood). We have Stan Wawrinka, the 39-year-old former French Open champion (2015) and, with Federer, the 2008 males’s doubles gold medalist. We have Murray, the two-time gold medalist and 2016 French Open finalist, enjoying in his final event earlier than retirement. And above all else, we have Nadal.
It is attainable that nobody has ever been married extra carefully to a serious venue than Nadal with Roland Garros. He is 112-4 all time there, and he spent greater than a 12 months working his approach again from harm with what appeared like the only objective of enjoying the French Open/Olympics combo in Paris. The French Open did not go as deliberate. As an unseeded entry he drew Zverev within the first spherical and performed properly, however nonetheless misplaced in straight units. Nevertheless, he skipped a possible final Wimbledon cease within the identify of getting tuned up on clay and making one final run in Paris. It might be completely unbelievable to witness. We’ll see if he can play his approach into kind, however with a protected rating he not less than will not draw a event favourite within the first spherical once more.
Girls’s preview
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Iga Swiatek: The ladies’s tour is an odd mixture of three excursions in a single for the time being. On onerous courts, the heavyweights — Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and so on. — all swing large (when wholesome) and play properly. On grass courts, it is mainly a random final result generator: We have seen eight totally different champions over the previous eight Wimbledons and 13 totally different semifinalists over the previous 4.
On clay courts, it is Swiatek’s universe. She’s gained three straight (and 4 of 5) French Open titles, and of the previous six WTA 1000 clay-court occasions she’s entered, she’s gained 4 and reached the finals of a fifth. She performed 15 units on the 2024 French Open, dropping just one and profitable 10 of the 14 others by a 6-2 margin or worse. Her footwork and protection on clay are just about excellent. Nobody is unbeatable, particularly in a best-of-three format, however on this floor she’s as shut because it will get.
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Coco Gauff: It is odd calling the No. 2 participant on the earth — and a former French Open finalist — a protracted shot, however that is the state of affairs when Swiatek’s within the subject. Nonetheless, Gauff is 15-0 at Roland Garros towards gamers not named Swiatek over the previous three years, and hey, you continue to get a fairly cool medal for ending second or third at this occasion, proper?
Elena Rybakina: Over her previous 33 matches on clay, Swiatek is 0-2 towards Rybakina (together with a third-set harm retirement, not less than) and 31-0 towards everybody else. Rybakina has been slightly inconsistent of late, shedding to lower-ranked gamers at every of her previous three tournaments, however she’s acquired an enormous recreation, and he or she is aware of what it is wish to beat Swiatek on clay. That makes her a contender.
Barbora Krejcikova: She’s gained a Slam on clay (2021 French Open), she’s gained the newest Slam (Wimbledon, beating Jasmine Paolini within the finals), and he or she’s gained a gold medal (2020 ladies’s doubles). That is an nearly excellent set of outcomes in the event you’re in search of somebody able to medaling.
Jasmine Paolini: What a 12 months it has been for the 28-year-old. She was 4-16 all time at Slams heading into this 12 months however is 15-3 in 2024. She’s brimming with confidence, and her high-energy recreation (and quick stature) has wooed crowds. She’s a risk to make a run in any event she enters whereas her kind is at this stage.
Mirra Andreeva She reached the French Open semifinals a month after her seventeenth birthday, and he or she’s 20-7 on clay (5-4 towards the highest 20) over the previous two years. She faltered within the face of expectations throughout grass-court season (0-2 in two occasions), however her recreation, blessed with glorious point-construction and anticipation, blossoms on the grime.
Coolest Olympic story
Laura Pigossi: The 29-year-old from Brazil did not attain a Slam most important draw till age 27, and her finest profession rating is one centesimal. However a superb run ultimately fall’s Pan American Video games earned her an automated spot within the subject. And hey, seven of her eight profession wins towards top-100 foes got here on clay. She might pull an upset or two.
The Olympic miracle
Danielle Collins: OK, sure, “miracle” is pushing it — she’s ninth on the earth, in spite of everything. However since saying she could be retiring on the finish of the season, the 30-year-old has loved essentially the most sustained run of kind in her profession, reaching three finals and profitable two. She’s 16-4 on clay in 2024, and all 4 losses got here towards gamers who aren’t within the Olympic subject. Profitable a medal in your approach out the door could be awfully candy.
