-
Invoice Connelly, ESPN Employees Author
Each 4 years (or so), tennis offers us a fifth main. Effectively, form of. Tennis on the Olympics generally supplies titanic heavyweight matchups — and generally delivers surprises.
It is going to be arduous to high Andy Murray vs. Roger Federer and Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova for gold medals in 2012. It is sensible that Murray and Rafael Nadal have mixed for 3 gold medals. Nonetheless, Nicolas Massu and Monica Puig having singles golds whereas Federer and Novak Djokovic don’t makes a little much less sense.
As with the 2012 Olympics, which befell at Wimbledon’s All England Membership, the 2024 match in Paris will unfold at an awfully acquainted location: Roland Garros, dwelling of the French Open. Accidents have taken out some extremely ranked gamers, however all the males’s and ladies’s semifinalists from this yr’s French Open are within the Olympic area, as are Nadal, the 14-time French Open champion, and Murray, a two-time gold medalist.
In different phrases, there are many storylines to comply with.
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
Favorites
Carlos Alcaraz: It most likely goes with out saying that the man who’s gained the previous two Slams heads to Paris because the No. 1 menace. 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 damage retirements, Zverev has gained 21 of his previous 24 matches at Roland Garros. He reached the finals this yr 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 via his most irritating season in ages. For under the second time in 14 years, he is didn’t win one of many first three Slams of the yr. He hasn’t crushed a top-10 participant on clay because the 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 ultimate (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 could 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 yr. Norway’s extra of a Winter Olympics nation, however he is acquired a powerful probability to medal.
Lengthy pictures
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 final two years after reaching the semis in 2020 and the finals in 2021. If he’ll do injury in a serious match, it is fairly more likely to be on clay at this level.
Daniil Medvedev: He is made the finals of 5 of the final seven hard-court Slams, and whereas he is by no means made the semis at Roland Garros, he is reached a minimum of the spherical of 16 in 14 of his final 15 Slams. At worst, he is the fourth-best participant on this planet, and he is in regards to the surest factor within the sport relating to avoiding upsets. That makes him a menace.
Jan-Lennard Struff: Now let’s get to an extended longshot. At age 34, the 6-foot-4 Struff has by no means gained greater than 54% of his tour matches in a given yr, 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 Might. An Olympic run can 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 taking part in for the Tunisian Davis Cup workforce, could 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 area. He will get to play at Roland Garros. How cool is that? And the way cool wouldn’t it 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 numerous enjoyable Olympic subplots. On the ladies’s facet, you have acquired gamers like 34-year-old Caroline Wozniacki and 36-year-old Angelique Kerber, the silver medalist in 2016, making post-motherhood comebacks. The boys’s draw offers us much more of those tales (properly, with out the motherhood). We have got Stan Wawrinka, the 39-year-old former French Open champion (2015) and, with Federer, the 2008 males’s doubles gold medalist. We have got Murray, the two-time gold medalist and 2016 French Open finalist, taking part in in his final match earlier than retirement. And above all else, we have Nadal.
It is doable that nobody has ever been married extra intently to a serious venue than Nadal with Roland Garros. He is 112-4 all-time there, and he spent greater than a yr working his method again from damage with what appeared like the only goal of taking part in 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. Nonetheless, he skipped a possible final Wimbledon cease within the identify of getting tuned up on clay and making one final run in Paris. It will be completely unimaginable to witness. We’ll see if he can play his method into kind, however with a protected rating he a minimum of will not draw a match favourite within the first spherical once more.
Girls’s preview
Favourite
Iga Swiatek: The ladies’s tour is an odd mixture of three excursions in a single for the time being. On arduous courts, the heavyweights — Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, et cetera — all swing massive (when wholesome) and play properly. On grass courts, it is principally a random consequence generator: We have seen eight completely different champions during the last eight Wimbledons and 13 completely different semifinalists during the last 4.
On clay courts, it is Swiatek’s universe. She’s gained three straight (and 4 of 5) French Open titles, and of the final 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 nearly good. Nobody is unbeatable, particularly in a best-of-three format, however on this floor she’s as shut because it will get.
Darkish horses
Coco Gauff: It is odd calling the No. 2 participant on this planet — and a former French Open finalist — a darkish horse, however that is the scenario when Swiatek’s within the area. Nonetheless, Gauff is 15-0 at Roland Garros towards gamers not named Swiatek during the last three years, and hey, you continue to get a reasonably cool medal for ending second or third at this occasion, proper?
Elena Rybakina: Over her final 33 matches on clay, Swiatek is 0-2 towards Rybakina (together with a third-set damage retirement, a minimum of) and 31-0 towards everybody else. Rybakina has been a little bit inconsistent of late, dropping to lower-ranked gamers at every of her final three tournaments, however she’s acquired an enormous recreation, and she or he is aware of what it is prefer 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 probably the most latest Slam (Wimbledon, beating Jasmine Paolini within the finals), and she or he’s gained a gold medal (2020 girls’s doubles). That is an virtually good set of outcomes for those who’re searching for somebody able to medaling.
Jasmine Paolini: What a yr it has been for the 28-year-old. She was 4-16 all-time at Slams heading into this yr 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 menace to make a run in any match she enters whereas her kind is at this stage.
Mirra Andreeva She reached the French Open semifinals a month after her seventeenth birthday, and she or he’s 20-7 on clay (5-4 towards the highest 20) during the last 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 dust.
Coolest Olympic story
Laura Pigossi: The 29-year-old from Brazil did not attain a Slam essential draw till age 27, and her finest profession rating is one hundredth. However a superb run ultimately fall’s Pan American Video games earned her an computerized spot within the area. 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: Okay, sure, “miracle” is pushing it — she’s ninth on this planet, in any case. However since asserting she can be retiring on the finish of the season, the 30-year-old has loved probably 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 area. Successful a medal in your method out the door can be awfully candy.
