Paris Olympics Daily Preview: Nadal Plays Singles (Maybe), While Murray Plays to Extend His Career in Doubles - UBITENNIS

Paris Olympics Daily Preview: Nadal Plays Singles (Maybe), While Murray Plays to Extend His Career in Doubles

By Matthew Marolf
7 Min Read

Due to rain forcing the cancellation of all outer court play on Saturday, Sunday is scheduled to be an extremely busy day around the grounds of Roland Garros, with 68 matches included on the Order of Play.

After making a winning 2024 Olympic debut in doubles on Saturday alongside Carlos Alcaraz, two-time gold medalist Rafael Nadal will play his first singles match on Sunday.  But is the King of Clay physically ready to compete in singles?  As per comments he made to the media on Saturday night, he and his team will decide on Sunday morning.

Another superstar of the sport, Andy Murray, has already decided his body is no longer capable of competing in singles, and will retire after playing this tournament in men’s doubles.  In what could be the final match of his storied career, Murray takes to the court on Sunday, teaming with Dan Evans.

Day 2’s overloaded scheduled also features American flag bearer Coco Gauff, as well as the defending gold medalist in men’s singles, Sascha Zverev.

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


Marton Fucsovics [HUN] vs. Rafael Nadal [ESP] – Second on Court Philippe-Chatrier

This is just the seventh tournament Nadal has played within the past 18 months, and while he looked rather sharp Saturday on the doubles court, he was sporting significant tape on his upper leg.  Rafa made a run to the final last week in Bastad, but it obviously took a toll on his already physically-compromised body, especially a four-hour quarterfinal against Mariano Navone. 

Fucsovics was a Wimbledon quarterfinalist three years ago, but is now ranked 83rd in the world, and is just 11-11 this season at tour level.  However, seven of those 11 wins came on clay, and he won an ATP title on this surface just a few months ago in Bucharest.

In their first career meeting, the uber-fit Fucsovics will certainly look to test the movement of Nadal.  Yet despite Rafa’s current condition, this is still Rafael Nadal playing at Roland Garros, a place where he is a mind-boggling 112-4 in singles.  At a venue which holds so many of his greatest memories on a tennis court, and in what is likely his last appearance here, I expect a motivated Nadal to find a way to win another match on his favorite court.  And his reward if he does?  A second round matchup against the man he has faced more than any other in his long career: Novak Djokovic.


Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori [JPN] vs. Daniel Evans and Andy Murray [GBR] – Fifth on Court Suzanne-Lenglen

While it was quite emotional, Murray’s Wimbledon farewell a few weeks ago did not go as planned.  After suffering a very painful back injury at Queen’s Club, he pulled out of singles at The Championships, and Emma Raducanu pulled out of their mixed doubles pairing, leaving Andy only to play men’s doubles.  And teaming with his brother Jamie, he lost in the first round.  After three more weeks of recovery and training, what condition is Andy in now?

The same question applies to one of the men who will be standing across the net from him on Sunday night, as Kei Nishikori has barely played any tennis these last few years due to multiple injuries.  And neither of these teams are regular doubles partners, nor have any of them been regularly playing doubles.

However, Murray and Evans have a lot more previous experience and success in this discipline, so I expect their doubles prowess to be enough for the Brits to prevail, and to extend Andy’s career by at least one more match.


Other Notable Matches on Sunday:

Sara Sorribes Tormo [ESP] vs. Barbora Krejcikova [CZE] (9) – This will be Krejcikova’s first singles match since winning her second Major singles title two weeks ago at Wimbledon.  She is a defending gold medalist in women’s doubles, alongside Katerina Siniakova.  And she defeated Sorribes Tormo earlier this year on a hard court, though the Spaniard is a bigger threat on clay.

Lorenzo Musetti [ITA] (11) vs. Gael Monfils [FRA] – Monfils has referred to playing at the Olympics in his home country as a dream come true, though he’s a modest 18-15 on the year, and just 3-5 on clay.  Musetti is coming off his first Major semifinal earlier this month at Wimbledon, as well as a run to the final this past week in Umag, with Lorenzo playing that championship match in Croatia on Saturday ahead of flying to Paris for this first round match.  They have split two previous meetings, though just two months ago at this same venue, Musetti defeated Monfils in straights.

Ajla Tomljanovic [AUS] vs. Coco Gauff [USA] (2) – Gauff was a winner in women’s doubles on Saturday, which was her Olympic debut after missing the Tokyo Games due to COVID.  This is her first time facing Tomljanovic, who has missed most of the past 18 months due to injury.

Alexander Zverev [GER] (4) vs. Jaume Munar [ESP] – Zverev is looking to repeat what Andy Murray accomplished in 2016: win back-to-back gold medals in men’s singles.  But five years ago in Marrakech on clay, Munar beat Zverev in their only prior encounter.


Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.

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