ANALYSIS: Top five women's contenders for Olympic Games gold medal glory as Paris approaches

We are only a few days away from the Paris Olympics, and players are preparing to compete from July 27. Which among them is the most likely to win the medal is a very good question, and we’re about to tackle it right now in the latest Analysis.

So, this year’s Paris Olympics are somewhat similar to the previous Olympics but also quite different. It’s the first time since 1992 that we’re going to have an Olympic event on clay, which is certainly a big deal because it makes some players way more dangerous compared to the rest.

You’ll find out below which players we’re talking about and one in particular stands out on this surface. It also marks a return to clay a mere two months after it was last played on and a shift to another surface in hard courts after.

If you asked 100 tennis fans which player is the most likely to win the gold medal in Paris, you’d get at least 90 of them saying Iga Swiatek. Honestly, it should be 100 because Swiatek is by far the biggest favourite, and it’s not even close. She won this year’s Roland Garros relatively easily if we don’t count the absurd performance from Naomi Osaka, who had match points against her.

She also won Roland Garros last year, the year before, and once more in the past to get an incredible 35-2 overall record. When she plays in the Roland Garros facilities, Swiatek is 35-2 all time and has won 31 of the last 32 matches played at the event. Read that again and you’ll quickly figure out why she’s the number one favourite.

Another bonus for her being the top favourite is her desire to win. As she stated earlier this year, the gold medal is her number one objective for this season, so there you have it. The desire, the skill, and the history are what make her the number one favourite, and it’s not even close.

In the absence of some big names like Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff is likely the 2nd most likely to win the gold medal. The American has a final in Paris from a few years ago, and she’s generally been one of the better performers at the event in the past few years. Her skill set is superbly suited for clay, and if she plays her best tennis, she’s very likely going to be among the last four battling for her medals. The gold medal is what she’s after, but that will require her to overcome Iga Swiatek, something with which he hasn’t had much luck.

They have played 12 times so far, and Switek has won 11 of those matches, including all five on clay. The most recent one was the semi-final of this year’s Roland Garros, which Swiatek won 6-2 6-4.

The third favourite for winning the gold medal is a player whom many expected to see in the final this year at Roland Garros. Elena Rybakina has experience of doing well at the Olympics, having finished 4th in Tokyo at the last one. There is no medal for a 4th place, but she’s hoping to rectify that this year, and with a 40-8 record this year, it’s very likely that she can.

Roland Garros this year was a strong run for her, but she ran into a very inspired Jasmine Paolini, who ousted her in the quarter-final, which was a major surprise. If she can find her best tennis and avoid bizarre losses like the one against Paolini, Rybakina will certainly be one of the players to watch in Paris. Her serve and strong baseline play are god enough to power her past many great opponents.

As crazy as it sounds, a 17-year-old is indeed one of the players likely to win some medals at the upcoming Paris Olympics. The reason why is that Andreeva is a really strong clay player. She’s proved it with her performances this year and last year. Now, this week, she’s in Iasi smashing everybody left and right and marching towards the trophy.

If she does win the trophy, she’s going to arrive in Paris with a lot of confidence, and she already did amazing at Roland Garros earlier this year. A win over Aryna Sabalenka to book the semi-final, where Jasmine Paolini beat her. That match against Paolini might actually prove to be the crucial. It’s a match where she completely flopped, probably due to a combination of nerves and excitement. Having that experience out of her way will make her way more dangerous in Paris, where she is certainly a player to watch. Will it be enough for a medal? Time will tell.

The final name on this list is a name that would have made you laugh last year, but this year, Jasmine Paolini proved herself to be one of the best players in the world, and that’s simply the truth. We are talking about a player who spent the majority of her career outside of the Top 50 before this year, but this year, she’s proven to be a Top 10 player, at least for now.

Paolini made the Roland Garros final, which is precisely why she’s on this list, but she also made the Wimbledon final recently. A player who was never known as a good grass player made it to the final this year, proving that her run in Paris was not a fluke. She’s world number 5 after all. With credentials like that and all the confidence in the world, Paolini will certainly be a player to watch in Paris.

This list doesn’t feature other big names, such as Jessica Pegula, but it’s mostly because they’re not in contention. There are some notable absences from this event, such as Aryna Sabalenka, who would have been on this list. Emma Raducanu isn’t playing either, but she wouldn’t be on this list, while Marketa Vondrousova might be an interesting name to speculate about. In any case, these are the names to watch out for, but realistically, it’s Iga Swiatek’s to lose.