ANALYSIS: Who is playing the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and who is not featuring Alcaraz, Djokovic, Zverev, Raducanu, Sabalenka

Saturday, 20 July 2024 at 10:25

The Olympic Games are less than ten days away, so let's take a look at the biggest stars who won't be playing at the event and who among the top will, in fact, play. There are some very surprising names that opted to skip the event in favour of resting up before the packed second part of the season or were forced to abandon playing due to injuries.

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Playing

Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz will play at the upcoming Paris Olympics, and why shouldn't he? The Spaniard is absolutely on fire right now, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back. The Olympics are played on the same courts as Roland Garros, and after winning there a month ago, why wouldn't he feel confident that he can do so again? That and the fact that it's the Olympics were easy choices for Alcaraz to make.

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic will play in Paris simply because it's likely the last time we will see him at the Olympics. Yes, he teased possibly playing in Los Angeles in 2028 but that's so far ahead that many struggle to even think about it.

A gold medal is one of the rare things he's missing from his achievement list, and this might be the final time he'll get a chance to do so. Having won in Paris just a year ago gives him decent hope that he can achieve it.

Novak Djokovic is among the leading lights playing the Olympic Games.

Jannik Sinner

Sinner has been one of the best players in the world this year and will be world number one at the start of the Olympics. His Roland Garros experience went pretty well, even though he was beaten by Alcaraz in five sets. Getting a chance to compete in a best-of-three format might suit him better, and he's certainly favoured to win a medal. The gold is preferred, but he'll need to be a bit better than a few weeks ago.

Alexander Zverev

The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist will try to defend his medal in Paris, and he's quite confident he can do it. Making the Roland Garros final a few weeks ago certainly proves that Zverev will have a chance, but a lot of things will need to go right for him. The knee injury he sustained recently is certainly something to monitor as well.

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Iga Swiatek

The undisputed favourite for the gold medal on the women's side is a player who has dominated Roland Garros in recent years. She won it again this year and barely broke a sweat in the entire event, so with that familiarity and confidence, it was a no-brainer for Swiatek to play. She's circled it as her biggest priority this year, so expect her to be quite motivated.

Coco Gauff

Many consider Gauff the second favourite to win gold in the upcoming Olympics, but she'll need to play a lot better than she has recently. The level is there, but her consistency keeps betraying her. There is a lot of hope that she can get things right in Paris, singles or doubles.

Coco Gauff is among the leading lights aiming to strike gold.

Missing

Aryna Sabalenka

The biggest name to miss the upcoming Olympics is Aryna Sabalenka, who confirmed that she wouldn't be playing at the games a few weeks ago. She also didn't play at Wimbledon after suffering a shoulder injury in Berlin, and for her, this is a chance to give herself time to recover properly and give her body a break.

Her main concern was the change of surface ahead of a long-court US Open swing, and she didn't want to put her body through that.

Ons Jabeur

Another big name who opted to skip the Olympics was Ons Jabeur, who has endured a rather bizarre season so far. Her level was different from what it used to be, and she, too, wasn't particularly keen on the surface switch after a very long season that had already put a lot of stress on her body.

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Emma Raducanu

A similar choice was made by Emma Raducanu, who didn't really want to push herself to play at the Olympics, believing that there would be enough time to do so in the future. The Brit has just finally found a really good rhythm and wants to make sure her body doesn't break down once more.

It's a sensible decision for Raducanu, who will simply go to the States and slowly build up her form for the US Open, where she'll be dangerous, considering her history at the event.

Albeit some have criticised said move with Raducanu believing she will have multiple chances to play the tournament. But a lot can change in four years.

Andrey Rublev

One of the most interesting withdrawals from the event is Andrey Rublev, who actually won a medal at last year's games. It came in doubles, but having a medal might have made the decision to withdraw a bit easier.

Since Madrid, he's battled an illness and confirmed that he wasn't playing because it would have been too much. Oddly enough, Rublev will continue playing during the post-Wimbledon clay season, which contradicts his statement that he needs rest, but that's what he said.

Grigor Dimitrov

One of the most consistent performers on Tour, Grigor Dimitrov, will also miss the event, though not by choice, at least not directly. The Bulgarian simply didn't have enough Davis Cup appearances recently to be eligible to play, and that's why he'll be missing the games.

He instead like many will in fact play in DC during that week which seems to be a haven for those wanting to play while the Olympic Games is ongoing.

Frances Tiafoe, Sebastian Korda and Ben Shelton

A couple of Americans had no intention of returning to Clay after Wimbledon. Tiafoe, Korda, and Shelton will all be returning home to the US, where they'll compete at the events there. It's not a hugely surprising decision for them because none of them were likely to do anything on clay anyway, so prepping for the US Open instead makes sense.

Some other big names who will be missing the event include Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who won a medal last year. Another Russian, Karen Khachanov, won't play, and neither will Anna Kalinskaya or Victoria Azarenka. Madison Keys is another player who won't play at the event, so it's going to be an interesting Olympics. Quite a few notable names will be skipping it over, but the biggest stars will be there.