The official list of entries for the 2024 Olympic Tennis Event in Paris will be made available by the ITF on 4 July, but, with each National Olympic Committee able to qualify up to 12 athletes, 6 per gender, represented by up to 4 players (the best ranked within their country) in each of the singles draws, 2 entries in each of the doubles draws, and only 1 entry in mixed doubles, player names are gradually being released.
The rankings of 10 June 2024 that followed the conclusion of Roland Garros determine the majority of players who will qualify directly, and, on the women’s side, we already know that the 64-player field will be led by World No 1 Iga Swiatek.
Several top players, though, have decided to opt out, including Aryna Sabalenka, the World No 2, Ons Jabeur, ranked 10, and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who was offered a wild-card. Coco Gauff, the World No 3 and the reigning US Open champion, will lead compatriots Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins and Madison Keys in America’s quest for a gold medal, while former World No 1s Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki also are set to return to Roland Garros to play the Olympics, which is scheduled to begin on 27 July.
The Japanese Tennis Federation confirmed Osaka’s selection last week, for what will be her second Olympic appearance. Osaka said, “Growing up watching the Olympics on TV, I felt that it was a celebration of sport. I thought it brought everyone together, and just to be able to be an athlete there, and interact with other athletes, is one of the funnest things that I’ve ever done. And if I do play, I have high ambitions of myself and I hope that I can do really well and get a medal.”
13. Ranked No 117 at the entry deadline, Wozniacki would have been eligible for one of the 2 spots reserved for former Grand Slam champions. Raducanu could have availed herself of that so-called ‘wild-card’ spot, but has opted to skip the Olympics. Ranked 209 at the entry cut-off, Raducanu confirmed her decision to decline her entry during her run to the semi-finals of the Rothesay Open last week.
“I’m very single-minded, and I do things my own way, and in my own time, whenever I want,” Raducanu told reporters. “So, not in a diva way, just prioritising my body and my health because I know, if I’m fit, I know if I’m giving my 100 percent, I know great things are happening and coming. I just don’t think there’s any need to put additional stress on my body or any risk, especially with my history.”
Jabeur also announced she would skip the Olympics for precautionary measures against injury. Jabeur, who is a 3-time Olympian, in 2012, 2016 and 2021, is in the middle of her grass-court swing as she eyes a maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, where she has finished as the runner-up in the last 2 years.
On Monday, Sabalenka, who is the reigning Australian Open champion, told reporters at the ecotrans Ladies Open in Berlin that she has decided to take care of herself, and prepare for the hard-court summer. For the first time since Barcelona in 1992, the Olympic tennis event will be held on clay, which requires players to transition from grass at Wimbledon to the clay at Roland Garros for the Olympics, and then onto hard courts for the North American swing leading into the US Open.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus who qualify for the Games can only compete as neutrals, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. World No 2 Coco Gauff leads a strong American squad of Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins and Madison Keys at the Paris Olympics.
