Rafael Nadal: Players who could miss out on the Olympics if the tennis great plays

Rafael Nadal has outlined his intention to play at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but his participation would be at the expense of one of his compatriots.

This year’s Olympic tennis tournament will be staged from July 27 to August 4 on the clay courts of Stade Roland Garros — a venue where Nadal has won a staggering record 14 French Open titles.

Nadal is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, having won the singles event in Beijing in 2008 and the doubles tournament with partner Marc Lopez at the 2016 Rio Games.

The Spanish legend fell in the opening round of the 2024 French Open to Alexander Zverev in his first Grand Slam appearance since the 2022 US Open.

Following his Roland Garros exit, Nadal explained that preparing for the 2024 Olympics was his priority, while highlighting his physical struggles in recent years.

“My body has been a jungle for two years. You don’t know what to expect. I wake up one day and I find a snake biting me. Another day a tiger,” he said in his press conference.

“I’ve been fighting with all the things that I went through. But the dynamic is positive the last few weeks. I felt ready. I think tomorrow I’ll be ready to play again if I have to. But I will not have to.

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“So that’s the thing. Now, I need to prepare myself, I need to clear my ideas and see what’s the new calendar to try to be ready for Olympics. I can’t say anything today, but my main goal now is to play the Olympics.”

Why Nadal meets the Olympic qualification requirements

Nadal, who is the current world No 275, used his protected ranking to compete at Roland Garros and he can do the same to enter the Olympic singles tournament.

The 38-year-old can use a protected ranking because he missed almost a full year due to the hip injury he suffered at the 2023 Australian Open.

A protected ranking is determined by a player’s average ranking position during the first three months of their injury. Players can use this ranking to enter nine tournaments and for a period of nine months from the first event they play after returning from injury.

Nadal has a protected ranking of world No 9, which is comfortably high enough for him to qualify for the 64-player men’s singles draw at the Olympics.

It would also position him as the second highest ranked Spanish ATP singles player after world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the Olympics qualification list.

Nadal would, therefore, qualify for Spain’s men’s squad, as a maximum of four players per country can play each singles event.

Pablo Carreno Busta can also use a protected ranking

An added layer comes from the fact that Pablo Carreno Busta is another Spanish player who can use a protected ranking to enter the Olympics.

The former world No 10 missed almost eight months through injury last year, and was out of action for a further seven months until he returned at the 2024 French Open.

The 32-year-old has a protected singles ranking of 18, which would make him the third Spanish player to qualify for the Olympics behind Alcaraz and Nadal — assuming the latter plays.

Since only four players per nation can play, two Spaniards currently above Nadal and Carreno Busta in the ATP Rankings will miss out on the Games if the duo compete as expected.

Pedro Martinez and Roberto Carballes Baena look set to miss the Olympics

In a scenario where Nadal and Carreno Busta play the Olympics, there would be just one spot left on the Spanish men’s singles team. This would be taken by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the world No 32 and current Spanish No 2.

Pedro Martinez and Roberto Carballes Baena, who are the third and fourth highest ranked Spanish players respectively, would no longer make the cut. The duo, who are ranked 48th and 63rd respectively, have both won ATP titles on clay courts.

Martinez hit out at the protected ranking system in an interview during Roland Garros, where he reached the second round.

“In this case, the protected ranking is an injustice because neither of us has missed the Olympic Games due to being injured, regardless of whether it is Rafa, who we all want to see in the Olympic Games, including me as a fan,” said the 27-year-old.

“I don’t see it as entirely fair. It’s as if I get injured now and in four years I use the protected ranking in the Los Angeles Games.

“I think that this year I deserve to go to the Olympic Games. And not going because of a situation like this is a bit unfair. But you can’t control it and that’s it.”

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