The attractive clay courts of Roland Garros will play host to the 2024 slate of Olympic tennis, starting on July 27. Paris is enjoying host to this 12 months’s summer time video games, and there’s no higher venue, which could simply be the opinion of the highest ladies’s singles participant on this planet, Iga Swiatek.
That’s as a result of Swiatek has been dominant on clay, profitable the French Open earlier this 12 months on these very courts. The world No. 1 participant has received three consecutive titles at Roland Garros, and 4 of the final 5. She’s the favourite to win gold, which might be her first. She competed within the 2020 video games however hadn’t but damaged out and was bounced within the second spherical.
The ladies’s singles bracket isn’t essentially all wrapped up, although. Swiatek has loads of competitors younger and previous, together with American Coco Gauff, who’s the No. 2 ladies’s participant on this planet, and Elena Rybakina, who has been ridiculously profitable on clay of late as nicely. Each Gauff and Rybakina have been dominant on the floor, however each have dropped a number of outings on to Swiatek on clay.
Format-wise, Olympic tennis is just like the setup of a Grand Slam occasion. The boys’s and girls’s singles attracts function 64 opponents, whereas the doubles brackets have 32 pairs. It’s a single-elimination event and, clearly, awards a medal for the highest three finishers. We’ll speak about some particular person gamers beneath, and can have extra when the draw and first match schedules come out on July 25.
Iga Swiatek: It could possibly’t be overstated simply how good Swiatek has been on clay, particularly this season. She’s acquired the French Open win this 12 months, and has received 4 of the final 5. She additionally has taken 4 separate clay court docket WTA 1000 tournaments this 12 months alone. She hasn’t been as sturdy on different surfaces, not having received at Wimbledon or the Australian Open, although she took the US Open title in 2022. She first earned the No. 1 rating in April 2022, and has solely let go it briefly since. She’s by no means misplaced a match earlier than the fourth spherical in six appearances at Roland Garros, 4 of which she received.
Coco Gauff: The very best likelihood at an American taking gold comes within the type of Gauff, the 20-year-old who’s at present ranked No. 2 on this planet. Gauff’s profession spotlight was profitable the US Open in 2023, however she hasn’t made it to a Slam last this 12 months. Her finest end on the French Open got here in 2022, when she made the ultimate however fell to Swiatek in straight units, 6-1, 6-3. Over the previous three years in actual fact, she’s 15-0 at Roland Garros … in opposition to everybody not named Swiatek. Gauff is undoubtedly the highest American lady and the heavy favourite over primarily everybody — once more, aside from Swiatek.
Elena Rybakina: Simply how sturdy has she been on clay? Nicely, she’s the one one who has confirmed to be able to beating Swiatek on the floor, as she accounts for the Pole’s solely two losses on clay in 33 showings. Rybakina isn’t essentially the most constant participant, however she’s coming off a semifinals look at Wimbledon, made it to the ultimate 4 in Madrid, and made it to the quarterfinals of the French Open in June. She has what it takes to push Swiatek to the brink on clay, however she has to make it that far first.
Different Individuals: Whereas Gauff is the most important relating to American ladies, she’s joined by others with a shot as nicely in Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, and Emma Navarro. Pegula is the sixth-ranked participant in ladies’s singles and final made the finals of a serious on this clay in 2022. Navarro is having fun with her profession highest rating of No. 15 on this planet, and is coming off a quarterfinals look at Wimbledon, her finest.
Lastly there’s Collins, who introduced that she is retiring on the finish of the season at 30 years previous. She’s enjoying among the finest tennis of her profession and is ranked ninth on this planet, with a 16-4 mark on clay in 2024. Going out on prime with a gold medal could be a pleasant strategy to do issues, however it’s nonetheless an uphill battle in opposition to this subject.
Learn how to watch tennis on the 2024 Olympics
Tennis protection shall be supplied by NBC and its varied networks and apps. The tv broadcasts shall be obtainable on CNBC, USA Community and E!, with dwell streaming on all of Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app and the NBC Olympics app. Play begins on Saturday, July 27 and can run by August 3 for the ladies’s bracket.
Verify again on July 25 for up to date ideas on the Olympic tennis draw and first spherical match schedules.
