Olympic tennis gets underway on Saturday in Paris, on the grounds of Roland Garros.

While not traditionally thought of as an Olympic sport, the tennis event at the last several Summer Olympic Games has provided some of the sport’s most memorable and emotional moments.  Representing their country at the Olympics is one of the biggest achievements in the lives of many tennis players, and the 2024 event being staged at Roland Garros is unquestionably a very special one.

This will be the last tournament in the careers of a pair of three-time Major champions: Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber.  And this will be the last Olympics, and likely the last time playing at Roland Garros, for 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal.  Rafa’s status for singles is in doubt, but he is committed to playing men’s doubles alongside four-time Major champ Carlos Alcaraz.

Nadal and Alcaraz will play their opening round doubles match on Saturday evening, while Kerber faces fellow multi-time Major champ Naomi Osaka in a blockbuster first round contest to close out the night session.  The day session sees both of the top seeds in the singles draws, Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek, play their opening round matches.

The draws for men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles will all be played across the next nine days in Paris.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Saturday’s play begins at 12:00pm local time.

Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni [ARG] (6) vs. Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal [ESP] – 7:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier

Eight years ago, Nadal won the gold medal in men’s singles at the Rio Olympics, alongside Marc Lopez.  And eight years before that, he claimed the gold medal in men’s singles at the Beijing Olympics, notably defeating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.  Now he goes for a third gold medal, teaming with the reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon men’s singles champion.

But this is a physically compromised, 38-year-old version of Rafa, who has only played six events within the last 18 months.  And while he reached the final just last week in Bastad, that run apparently took a toll on his body.  There are reports he may be pulling out of the singles draw in Paris, as a four-hour quarterfinal match last week against Mariano Navone certainly drained the King of Clay. 

This will be the first time these two Spanish all-time greats team up, and both have rarely played doubles in their careers.  By contrast, Gonzalez and Molteni are both top 20 doubles players.  And while they didn’t team together during the grass court season, they’ve won seven titles together within the last 18 months.

However, facing these two Roland Garros champions on Court Philippe-Chatrier will be a daunting task.  And Nadal should be less hampered on the doubles court than the singles court.  I expect Rafa and Carlitos to embrace the energy of the Saturday night crowd in Paris, and advance to the next round.

Naomi Osaka [JPN] vs. Angelique Kerber [GER] – Last on Court Philippe-Chatrier

Both of these players returned from maternity at the start of the year, though neither has yet rediscovered their top form.  26-year-old Osaka has shown glimpses of it, specifically two months ago at this same venue, when she was just a point away from upsetting Iga Swiatek.  36-year-old Kerber is just 7-14 since returning, and arrives in Paris on a five-match losing streak.  Angie announced earlier this week that she will retire from the sport following these Olympic Games.

These two sure-fire Hall of Famers played six times between 2017 and 2022, with Kerber taking four of those six encounters.  However, most of those occurred while Angie was at her best, and before Naomi had reached her top level.  They’ve never before played on clay, which is certainly neither’s favorite surface.

In the last tournament of her career, Kerber will be extra motivated to achieve a good result.  And she’s done so before at the Olympics, as she was the silver medalist back in 2016.  At the last Olympics in Tokyo, Osaka seemed distracted and overwhelmed playing in her home country’s Games.  But this season, she’s been extremely focused on her tennis, and has dedicated herself to better acclimating to playing on clay.  Based on her performance in Paris two months ago, I like Naomi’s chances of prevailing on Saturday, and thus ending Angie’s singles career.

Other Notable Matches on Saturday:

Iga Swiatek [POL] (1) vs. Irina-Camelia Begu [ROU] – Swiatek is 21-1 this year on clay, and is on a 19-match win streak on this surface.  Three years ago at Wimbledon, she thumped Begu by a score of 6-1, 6-0.

Jack Draper [GBR] vs. Kei Nishikori [JPN] – Nishikori was a bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics, but injuries have only allowed him to play four ATP events across the last three seasons.  Draper currently sits at a career-high ranking of No.26, thanks to 21 match wins in 2024.

Novak Djokovic [SRB[ (1) vs. Matthew Ebden [AUS] – An Olympic gold medal is the one glaring blemish on the Djokovic CV, and at 37 years of age, this will most certainly be his last good chance to win the gold for Serbia, which might mean more to Novak than any of his other career accomplishments.  Ebden replaces Andy Murray in the singles draw, and the Australian hasn’t played a singles match in over two years, as the ITF bizarrely uses doubles players already on site as singles alternates.

Hady Habib [LBN] vs. Carlos Alcaraz [ESP] (2) – Alcaraz will play both singles and doubles on Saturday, and he’s now 33-6 on the year in singles, coming off his fourth Major title at Wimbledon.  Habib is a 25-year-old representing Lebanon who has never been ranked inside the world’s top 250.

Rinky Hijikata [AUS] vs. Daniil Medvedev [AIN] (4) – Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, Medvedev lost in the quarterfinals to eventual bronze medalist Pablo Carreno Busta.  Hijikata peaked at No.70 in singles last season, but is just 10-16 in 2024.

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula [USA] (1) vs. Ellen Perez and Daria Saville [AUS] – Gauff will be the flag bearer for the United States during Friday’s opening ceremony, after missing the Tokyo Games due to COVID.  Her and Pegula are regular partners, while Perez and Saville are not, though Perez is a top 10 doubles player.

Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.

Players will begin their quest for Olympic glory on Saturday when the tennis competition gets underway at Roland Garros. 

A total of 181 players from 40 countries after taking part in the tournamrnt across five different disciplines (two singles and three doubles events). Singles matches are best of three tiebreak sets and doubles matches are three tiebreak sets but with a match tiebreak as the final set. 

There will be plenty on the line in Paris, so here are five things to know. 

Alcaraz could create history

After claiming the French Open and Wimbledon titles, Carlos Alcaraz has a shot at adding an Olympic title to his resume. Should the 21-year-old claim gold in the men’s singles, he would become the youngest player in history to do so. The all-time record is held by 1924 champion Vincent Richards of the USA and the Open Era record belongs to 1992 champion Marc Rosset. Both Richards and Rosset were 21 when they won the Olympics but Alcaraz enters into this year’s edition a couple of months younger than them. 

If Alcaraz doesn’t succeed, the other two players who could break this record are Jakub Mensik and Arthur Fils. 

Djokovic isn’t the only player with a chance of achieving the Golden Slam

Despite being one of the most decorated players in the history of tennis, a gold medal has so far eluded Novak Djokovic. The Serbian won a bronze medal in 2008 and settled for fourth position in both singles and mixed doubles three years ago in Tokyo. Should the Serbian win gold in the singles, he would become only the fifth player to have completed the golden slam – winning all four major titles and the Olympics. The only players to have done this so far in the singles competition are Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and Serena Williams. 

Furthermore, Italy’s Sara Errani could achieve this milestone in the doubles tournament. The five-time major doubles champion is competing in the tournament alongside Jasmine Paolini. Should Errani achieve the Golden Slam, she would be the first player from her country – male or female – to do so.

Iga Swiatek aims to end Poland’s medal drought

Iga Swiatek has become a formidable force at Roland Garros, winning the French Open four out of the past five years. She will be hoping to continue her dominance at the Olympics where she is aiming to become the first Polish player in history to win a medal in tennis. 

Should she win gold, the 23-year-old would become the first woman to win both the French Open and Olympic titles within the same season since Graf in 1988. She would also become the third player to win gold whilst ranked No.1 in the world after Graf in 1988 and Justine Henin in 2004.

Remarkably, in the Open Era the men’s singles title has never been won by the player ranked No.1 at the time. 

There are a lot of former medalists

Despite taking place every four years, there are plenty of players in the draw who have previously won medals. A total of 16 players fall into this category – eight men and eight women. 

Out of the group, the only multiple medalists are Andy Murray (two golds and one silver) and Rafael Nadal (two golds). The other players to have won a medal are the following:-

Barbora Krejcikova – Gold Tokyo 2020
Nikola Mektic – Gold Tokyo 2020
Elena Vesnina – Gold Rio 2016
Mate Pavic – Gold Tokyo 2020
Katerina Siniakova – Gold Tokyo 2020

Viktorija Golubic – Silver Tokyo 2020
Angelique Kerber – Silver Rio 2016
Rajeev Ram – Silver Rio 2016

Novak Djokovic – Bronze Beijing 2008
Kei Nishikori – Bronze Rio 2016
John Peers – Bronze Tokyo 2020
Laura Pigossi – Bronze Tokyo 2020
Luisa Stefani – Bronze Tokyo 2020
Elina Svitolina – Bronze Tokyo 2020

India’s Bopanna could break an Open Era age record

Doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna is bidding to become the oldest player in the Open Era to win an Olympic medal, as well as the oldest to do so in history since 1908! The 44-year-old is playing in the doubles tournament alongside Sriram Balaji. 

However, if Bopanna wants to break the record for the oldest player to play an Olympic event in the Open era, he will have to participate in the 2028 Games. Martina Navratilova currently holds that record after taking part in the 2004 Athens game at the age of 47 years and 309 days.

Rafael Nadal’s plans of playing both singles and doubles at the Paris Olympics are in doubt after the Spaniard opted to miss a practice session due to ‘discomfort.’

The 22-time Grand Slam champion has used his protected ranking to enter the singles tournament where he is scheduledto play Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics in his opening match. If he wins that, he could then take on long-time nemesis Novak Djokovic in what would be their 60th meeting at the Tour-level. Nadal will also play in the doubles tournament alongside reigning French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz. 

However, there is fresh uncertainty over Nadal’s participation in the singles draw due to concerns about ‘physical problems,’ according to Spanish media outlets. The issue has since been confirmed by his coach Carlos Moya who shed some light on the situation while speaking to Spanish radio. 

“He had some discomfort yesterday (July 24) morning,” The AFP news agency quoted Moya telling Spanish radio. “In the afternoon he was more limited and before it got worse he decided to stop.” 

The 38-year-old didn’t conduct any training on Thursday in Paris to rest his body. A decision is expected to be made based on how he recovers today and tomorrow, which will be the same day the tennis tournament starts. 

“I can’t guarantee anything, neither that he won’t play or he will play,” said Moya. “At the moment he needs to rest,undergo treatment.

“He is obviously very excited to play these Olympics. It has been something marked on his calendar for years.

“He is a born competitor and wants to play singles and doubles. He’s very excited about the doubles with Alcaraz. It will be the first time they have played together and it will be something historic for Spanish tennis.”

The setback comes less than a week after Nadal reached his first ATP final in two years at the Swedish Open. He missed out on the title after falling in straight sets to Portugal’s Nuno Borges and later said he was frustrated with the level of his performance. 

Paris will almost certainly be the last Olympic Games Nadal plays in before retiring from the sport. However, he has not yet stated when he plans to step away from the sport. He is a two-time gold medal winner, claiming the men’s singles title in 2008 and then the doubles crown in 2016 with Marc Lopez.