With Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejčíková crowned Wimbledon Champions, attention now quickly turns to the 2024 Paris Olympics to be held at Roland Garros.
Defending men’s champion Alexander Zverev will return to the Olympic Village to defend his title, while Swiss Belinda Bencic will not as she enjoys time away from the tour as a new mother.
Although the Olympics has no prescribed surface for the sport, that the event will be held at Roland Garros provides a unique quirk for this year's Olympians. Six of the last seven Olympic games have been held on hard courts; which follows the tour swing to North America post-Wimbledon. The 2012 London games, the only exception, were played at the All England Club only three weeks after the Championships itself.
Consequently, players have a decision to make. Do you return to the clay post-Wimbledon to represent your country, or do you skip the games to give yourself the best chance of succeeding at the US Open which begins two weeks after the Paris games will conclude.
For some, like Novak Djokovic, the decision is easy. The Olympics remains the only hole in his resume and he’s spoken openly this year about prioritising the games over all other events.
Similarly, for Iga Swiatek, the Paris games likely represents her best chance at Olympic glory given her 35-2 record at Roland Garros with her last loss coming in the 2021 quarter-finals.
On the other hand, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka - who would be competing under a neutral flag at Paris in any event, Grigor Dimitrov, Frances Tiafoe, and Emma Raducanu, amongst others, have elected to travel to the US to begin their hardcourt swing.
Nonetheless, the entry list for singles and doubles events alike remains glittered with stars.
Representing Australia will be Ajla Tomljanovic, Daria Saville, Ellen Perez, Olivia Gadecki, Alex de Minaur, Matt Ebden, Alexei Popyrin, John Peers and Rinky Hijikata with our team a strong chance to feature on the podium.
Outside of Alex de Minaur, who reached his first Roland Garros quarter-final last month, Australia’s best chance to medal will likely arise in the doubles draws.
World number 3 and two-time doubles grand slam champion Matt Ebden will partner 2017 Australian Open champion John Peers in the men’s doubles. Peers himself is no stranger to Olympic success having won Bronze in Tokyo with mixed doubles partner Ash Barty. Helpfully, and although neither would say clay is their best surface, both men have played well at Roland Garros in the past with Peers reaching a quarter-final in 2018 and Ebden reaching the semi-final this year.
World number 10 Ellen Perez, who reached a doubles semi-final at Roland Garros in 2023, will join forces with close friend Daria Saville. The pair have not played much doubles together before but did win a WTA 250 event on French clay in 2019.
Alex de Minaur, who has won a Masters 1000 title on the doubles court, will partner Alexei Popyrin and Ajla Tomljanovic will compete with Olivia Gadecki. 2023 Australian Open champion Rinky Hijikata was not selected to play doubles at this games.
On the singles court, de Minaur will be among the favourite to go deep in the event given his tendency to excel when representing his country and playing on a team. At the 2022 Laver Cup, American Frances Tiafoe told the press that his Team World teammate, de Minaur, “foams at the mouth” for team competition and is one of the best team players in tennis.
Standing in his way will be the likes of world number 1 Jannik Sinner, reigning Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, a fit-again Rafael Nadal, two-time Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud and defending Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, whose game is elevated on the red dirt.
An imposing field, no doubt, but the world number 6 has proven himself worthy of being discussed amongst that contingent.
While expectations for Nadal will be unusually low at his house of pain, Djokovic, in particular, will be under close scrutiny at his fifth Olympics as he has typically found himself a step short of his best tennis when competing for Serbia. The 24-time slam champion won Bronze in Beijing but has since been underwhelming. He lost to Juan Martin Del Potro in the Bronze medal match in 2012 and again in the opening round in Rio in 2016. The favourite in Tokyo, Djokovic lost to eventual champion Zverev in the semi-finals before losing his cool and his medal hopes to Pablo Carreno Busta in the bronze medal play-off.
Such is his desire for that elusive Olympic gold, the Serbian seriously considered withdrawing from Wimbledon following knee surgery before eventually taking his place in the draw and reaching a remarkable 37th grand slam final only 40 days post-surgery.
That said, Sinner, Zverev and Alcaraz, who is teaming up alongside Rafael Nadal in the doubles, will likely enter the tournament as the three to beat alongside Djokovic.
On the women’s side, there is little to suggest that anyone other than Iga Swiatek should be the favourite. The Polish star holds a Nadal-like 95% winning record at Roland Garros over her career and is 21-1 on clay this season.
Russian-born Elena Rybakina, who has nationalised to Kazakhstan, is the clear challenger to Swiatek given her ability to brutishly hit opponents off the court. However, Rybakina, who is the only woman with a clay court win over Swiatek this year, was underwhelming at Roland Garros falling in a quarter-final loss to Jasime Paolini.
Coco Gauff will also be hoping to avoid Swiatek on the dirt as the American has an unfavourable 1-11 record against Swiatek with the difference in class at its most pronounced on the clay courts where Swiatek's movement helps expose Gauff’s flaws from the back of the court.
Teams to avoid in the men's doubles will include the Croatian pairing of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic nor the Italian duo of Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolleli. On the women’s side no one will want to face Czech pair Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova or American stars Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula; all accomplished doubles pairs on tour.
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