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Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been running the show, but Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are among the veterans looking to prove they can still win at the 2024 Olympics at Roland Garros.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are nearly here, and the men’s singles bracket is absolutely brimming with big storylines to follow. Will the top young players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner dominate as they have in recent Grand Slam events, or can someone like 37-year-old Novak Djokovic finally add a gold medal to his resume? Can Rafael Nadal make magic happen once again before he calls it a career?
Given that the Olympics are in Paris, it makes perfect sense that the tennis will be played on the clay courts of Roland Garros, where the French Open takes place. And that means virtually everyone will be watching Nadal, who has a connection with Roland Garros like no other. He’s at 112-4 all time, and skipped what would likely have been a last attempt at Wimbledon in the past month to tune up for these Olympics.
Neither Djokovic nor Nadal have said that this is their last tournament, but it’s almost certainly their last Olympics. That also goes for guys like 37-year-old Andy Murray, and 39-year-old Stan Wawrinka, who all have found success on these clay courts. But despite these big names, it’s young guns like Alcaraz and Sinner who will be favored, and for good reason.
The format for Olympic tennis is very much similar to the Grand Slams — there will be men’s and women’s singles and doubles brackets, with draws of 64 and single elimination matches. We’ll look at some of the individual players below, and will have further analysis when the draw and first match schedules are released on July 25.
Alcaraz: There’s no player more impressive and electrifying to watch right now than Carlos Alcaraz. He’s the No. 1 target for the rest of the bracket, having notched two Grand Slam titles in 2024, including a French Open on these same clay courts. On his way to winning that, he bested Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, and then both Sinner and Alexander Zverev in five sets. Alcaraz then earned a Channel Slam, which is what it’s called when a player wins the French Open followed by a win at Wimbledon just a couple weeks later. Alcaraz became just the second man in the Open Era to win all of his first four major finals when he took Wimbledon, and holds an 0-2 head-to-head mark against Sinner, his top competition and world No. 1 player.
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Sinner: Despite falling to Alcaraz in the French Open final and getting bounced by the fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon, Sinner has accumulated enough points to take the No. 1 ranking. The 22-year-old Italian is a bit behind Alcaraz when it comes to winning slams, but other than their direct head-to-head, Sinner could still be considered the favorite going into Paris. Sinner started the season off by getting his first ever Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, and made it as far as the semifinal in the French Open. He took the Halle Open earlier this year shortly after earning his No. 1 ranking. During his five-set loss to Medvedev, he was dealing with an illness, but should be rested up for a run at Roland Garros.
Djokovic: Though the Serb has more Grand Slam singles titles than any other, he hasn’t yet managed to secure a major title in 2024. He’s dealing with a torn meniscus, which he battled through to win a match at the French Open before ultimately withdrawing before his quarterfinal contest with Casper Ruud. It’s been an extremely frustrating season for him and most importantly: he’s never won a gold medal. Still, beating some of the younger guys, let alone Nadal et al, will be very difficult.
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Rafael Nadal: As noted above, Nadal skipped Wimbledon to take part in this year’s Olympics. Roland Garros is the site of 14 of Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam titles and he said at the beginning of this year that this tournament was an important one for him. Nadal already has two gold medals, one in singles at Beijing in 2008, and one in doubles with Marc López in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. He’s about a year removed from hip surgery though, and it will require some draw luck and some of the old Nadal magic to make it through.
What about the Americans?
While American men haven’t won any major titles in recent years, 26-year-old Taylor Fritz will be making his Olympic debut and has their best shot at winning a medal. He’s joined by Tommy Paul, Chris Eubanks, and Marcos Giron, though all are considered longshots.
Fritz has found plenty of success in many tournaments, but has never made it past the quarterfinals of a slam. He won the 2022 Indian Wells Open and made it to the quarterfinals of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024. He suffered and concealed an injury during the French Open and carried that into the grass court season, so he may not be 100 percent in Paris, either.
Beyond the guys above and Fritz, the field will of course contain
How to watch tennis at the 2024 Olympics
Tennis at the Olympics will be primarily broadcast on CNBC, USA Network, and E! as far as television goes, and streaming on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app and the NBC Olympics app — so there’s some good options for catching every match. Play starts on Saturday, July 27 and the men’s singles bracket is expected to conclude on August 4. Television coverage will generally start at 6 a.m. ET and run through the afternoon.
