Paris Olympics: What to know about tennis at Roland Garros

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — Tennis has been in every Olympics since 1988, and the Paris 2024 edition could be among the most memorable.

For just the second time, a grand slam tournament venue will host the five Olympic tennis tournaments. On the men’s side, two of the greatest players ever say farewell, and the new stars of the sport aim for supremacy on the clay courts of Paris. The women’s draw has a massive favorite looking to spoil a surprise, and the doubles tournaments will offer many out of the ordinary pairings.

Here is everything you need to know about the tennis tournaments at the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 27.

Venue – Roland Garros

For the first time since the Barcelona Games in 1992, Olympic tennis will be played on clay courts and will be on the most famous ones in the world.

Roland Garros, located less than three miles away from the Eiffel Tower, is the annual host of the French Open. The only other time a grand slam venue hosted Olympic tennis was in 2012 when the Wimbledon courts were the venue for the London Olympics.

Clay is arguably the most difficult surface for tennis players to master as the ball bounces slower, creating longer rallies. Baseline players like Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg were masters of the surface for their sliding abilities and return games, which are key for clay court success.

Last hurrah for Djokovic and Nadal as Alcaraz shines

The men’s draw offers a wealth of storylines, and it’s hard to pinpoint which one is the biggest. Novak Djokovic, a 24-time grand slam champion, is likely playing in his last Olympics for Serbia and has yet to win an Olympic singles gold medal.

Also likely playing in his last Olympics is Nadal of Spain, whose 14 French Open wins make him the best player ever at Roland Garros. It’s been speculated this will be the last time Nadal plays competitively there.

Djokovic, Nadal and the rest of the field will all be chasing 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who enters the Olympics as the French Open and Wimbledon champion from this year. He hopes to accomplish what his idol Nadal did in 2008 by winning both those grand slams and Olympic gold in the same year.

Other players to watch will be world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, reigning gold medalist and 2024 French Open finalist Alex Zverev of Germany, clay court specialist Casper Ruud of Norway, Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, and Great Britain’s Andy Murray, who won two singles golds in London and Rio de Janeiro.

Iga Swiatek heavy favorite for women

The last two women’s singles Olympic tournaments provided massive shocks with Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic (Tokyo) and Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig (Rio) winning gold. With Roland Garros as the host, Poland’s Iga Swiatek might spoil any chance of a surprise winner.

The 23-year-old has become the best clay court player on the women’s side having won four of the last five French Opens. She is undoubtedly the heavy favorite.

The field behind her features many players with clay court success, including world No. 2 Coco Gauff for Team USA. The 20-year-old U.S. Open champion has made four straight French Open quarterfinals. Her fellow Americans Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro will also have high seeds in the bracket.

Others to watch include Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who made the French Open and Wimbledon finals this year, Greece’s Maria Sakkari, Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova from Czechia, and the returning medalists from Tokyo — silver winner Marketa Vondrousova from Czechia and bronze winner Elina Svitolina from Ukraine.

Doubles tournaments

The Olympics will have men’s, women’s and mixed doubles tournaments that offer unique pairings. At grand slams, you can pair with whoever you want, but at the Olympics, your teammate has to be from the same country.

The men’s doubles tournament will be headlined by the dream Spanish pairing of Nadal and Alcaraz, who have never played together in a tournament. That inexperience might be tough to overcome against seasoned doubles players and pairings, like Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, the gold medal winners in Tokyo.

The women’s tournament favorites will be the Tokyo gold medalists Krejickova and Katerina Siniakova of Czechia. Gauff will also play doubles with Pegula, and Paolini pairs with Sara Errani for a solid Italian team.

While the mixed doubles pairings have yet to be determined, we could see teamups of great singles players, like a Polish team of Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz or a Greek team of Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

NBC4 Paris Olympics Previews

• A look at the venues
• Six sports to learn more about
• Memorable moments for host nations
• Golf preview
• Water and extreme sports preview
• Team sports preview
• 22 international athletes to watch
• Swimming preview
• Track & Field preview
• Gymnastics preview
• Basketball preview

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