With one
week to go until the Paris 2024
Olympic Games, tennis will be one of the events
kicking off the competition on July 27, running until August 4 on the clay
courts of Stade
Roland Garros. The most recent gold medalists were Germany's
Alexander Zverev in men's singles and Switzerland's
Belinda Bencic in women's
singles.
Zverev will
be aiming to defend his gold medal, a feat only
Andy Murray has achieved by
winning in both 2012 and 2016. On the women's side, Bencic will not be
participating in the tournament as she has not played all season due to her
pregnancy and the recent birth of her daughter Bella three months ago.
The
Olympics present a complex challenge for players who must quickly adapt to the
change of surface following Wimbledon. Most top contenders in both men's and
women's tournaments chose not to participate in clay events prior to Paris
2024, making adaptability a crucial factor.
There will
be five tennis events, just like in the Grand Slams, with men's and women's
singles and doubles, plus mixed doubles. The current champions in men's doubles
are the Croatian pair Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić, while the women's doubles
champions are the Czech duo Barbora Krejciková and Kateřina Siniaková. In mixed
doubles, the champions were Russia's
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey
Rublev.
Men's
Side
The top
eight players in the ATP Ranking will be seeded in the tournament, led by
Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and
Carlos Alcaraz. Zverev, the defending gold
medalist, won the final in Tokyo 2020 against
Karen Khachanov and also
eliminated Djokovic in the semifinals.
He won't be
the only former gold medalist in the draw, as legends Rafael Nadal and Andy
Murray will also be competing. Notable absences in the draw include Andrey
Rublev,
Ben Shelton,
Grigor Dimitrov, Félix Auger-Aliassime, and Sebastian
Korda.
![nadalbastad](https://r.testifier.nl/Acbs8526SDKI/resizing_type:fit/watermark:Picture%3A%20IMAGO/width:1280/plain/https://s3-newsifier.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/tennisuptodate.com/images/2024-07/nadalbastad-6697ee13df705.jpg@webp)
Rafa Nadal is playing this week at Bastasd Open.
Women's
Side
In the
women's draw, almost the entire top 10 will be competing, with the only notable
absence being
Aryna Sabalenka, who decided to quickly travel to the US to
prepare for the hardcourt swing that begins right after the Olympics. Other
absences include
Daria Kasatkina,
Madison Keys,
Emma Raducanu,
Paula Badosa,
and
Anna Kalinskaya.
On the
other hand, the top seeds will be
Iga Swiatek,
Coco Gauff,
Elena Rybakina, and
Jasmine Paolini. Given the surface, Swiatek is the overwhelming favorite as a
four-time French Open champion.
Here you
can find how to follow the TV broadcasts of the Paris 2024 Olympics:
• English - BBC, RTE (Ireland), NBC
(USA), Discovery (Max) (UK and Ireland), Eurosport
• German - ARD (Das Erste), ZDF,
Discovery (Max), Eurosport
• Spanish - RTVE, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Italian - RAI (Rai 1, Rai 2, Rai
Sport, RaiPlay), Discovery (Max), Eurosport
• Portuguese - RTP, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Greek - ERT, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Dutch - NOS, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Belgian - RTBF, VRT, VAR, RMB,
Discovery (Max), Eurosport and Clear Channel (station advertising)
• Switzerland - Discovery (Max), SSR
channels, Eurosport
• Canadian - CBC/Radio Canada, TSN, RDS,
Sportnet
• Australian -9Now
• Brazil - Grupo Globo, CazéTV (social
networks)
• Mexico - TelevisaUnivision, TV Azteca,
Imagen Telvision
• Chinese - CCTV, Migu, Douyin, Kuaishu,
Tencent
• Japanese - Japan Consortium (14 public
and private channels, including NHK, etc.)
• Korean - KBS, IMBC, SBS
• Bulgarian - BNT1, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Danish - DR, TV 2, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Estonian - Postimees, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Lithuanian - TV3, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Latvian - LTV, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Finnish - Yle, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Norwegian - NRK, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Swedish - Kanal 5, Eurosport,
Discovery (Max)
• Icelandic - RUV, Discovery (Max)
• Ukrainian - Suspilne, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Hungarian - MTVA (M4 Sports),
Discovery, Eurosport
• Polish - TVP, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Romanian - TVR, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Slovak - RTVS, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Slovenian - RTVSLO, Discovery (Max),
Eurosport
• Czech - CT, Discovery (Max), Eurosport
• Turkish - Discovery (Max), TRT
• Morocco - SNRT, BeIn Sports
• Algeria - BeIn Sports
• Saudi Arabia - BeIn Sports
• Russian - TSG (but Russia may not
broadcast the Olympic Games).
• Indian - Doordarshan (YouTube channel)
• Indonesian - EMTEK