Find out how megastars such as Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz can qualify for the next Olympic tennis competition, which will be played on the most famous clay courts of the planet.
(2022 Getty Images)
One of the most important sporting venues in the world will host the Paris 2024 Olympic Games tennis competition: the clay courts of the French Tennis Federation headquarters where the annual French Open takes place will be the stage of a battle for Olympic medals that promises to be nothing short of historic.
Will we see another Olympic effort from legends such as Rafael Nadal? What can Carlos Alcaraz achieve over the next two years?
What is certain is that Paris 2024 will be the seventh time that the Olympic tennis tournament has been played on clay, the first since Barcelona 1992.
The Olympic qualification system has been released, without significant modifications from Tokyo 2020. Find out how tennis players can secure their spots at the next Olympic Games.
Paris 2024 will host the five traditional events (men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles, and mixed doubles), providing 172 quotas. The total number of athletes depends on how many players compete in more than one event.
Each NOC can qualify up to 12 athletes, six per gender, represented by up to four players (the best ranked within their country) in each of the singles draws, two entries in each of the doubles draws, and only one entry in mixed doubles.
To be eligible, athletes must follow the ITF (International Tennis Federation) eligibility rules, including participation in the Davis Cup (men's) and the Billie Jean King Cup (women's), but exceptions may apply.
The ATP (men's) and WTA (women's) rankings of 10 June 2024 - right after the French Open - determine the majority of athletes who will qualify.
The singles draws will include 64 players for each competition. The rankings determine 56 of those (Direct Acceptances), respecting the maximum quota of four per NOC. France has one secured spot per event as the host country, but won't use it if French athletes are already qualified. Six other quotas are ITF Places, and another is a universality place.
ITF Places are given to winners or finalists of continental competitions in the Americas (men's and women's singles finalists at the 2023 Pan-American Games), in Asia (men's and women's singles champions at the 2022 Asian Games) and Africa (men's and women's singles champions at the 2023 African Games).
The other two ITF Places are reserved for Olympic or Grand Slam singles champions who didn't qualify through other criteria, provided they are in the singles top 400 and don't make their NOC exceed their maximum quota.
Each doubles event features 32 teams, two maximum per NOC. The first to qualify are the top 10 players of the ATP and WTA doubles rankings, as long as they have an available partner from the same NOC inside the top 300 of any rankings, and the nomination of the partner doesn't make the NOC exceed their maximum quota.
After that, quotas are distributed using the combined ranking of the partners. Finally, the priority goes to teams who already have players qualified for a singles event.
Only athletes who are already qualified for singles or doubles can take part in one of the 16 mixed doubles teams, with one team per NOC allowed. Qualification is decided by the combined ranking of the partners.
Things can change rapidly in the tennis world, but audiences will certainly have the chance to see some of the legends of the game, such as two-time Olympic gold medalist Rafael Nadal, 2008 bronze medalist Novak Djokovic, five-time medalist Venus Williams, two-time medalist Roger Federer, and two-time gold medalist Andy Murray.
The Tokyo 2020 women's singles champion, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic will have fierce competition in Paris, particularly if Iga Swiatek from Poland continues to dominate the women's tour. The current World No.1 also has the advantage of being a clay court expert.
Carlos Alcaraz wasn't able to compete in Tokyo because Spain had already reached its maximum quota. But it's hard to imagine that the 19-year-old won't get his Olympic chance this time around, trying to repeat the feat of Alexander Zverev in 2021.
The locals will support their biggest shot for a gold medal, the multi Grand Slam doubles champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hughes Herbert. However, the duo will have to overcome an Olympic 'curse': they lost in the first round in Rio and Tokyo. There's no better place to put this to rest than the courts where they have won two French Open titles.