We’re about halfway through the tournament now in most draws and we’re winding down to start to see who’s got a legitimate chance at gold, silver, and bronze. Tennis has done well at the Olympics having some must see moments early on. Below are so far the best tennis moments of the 2024 Paris Olympics, what there is to be excited for to come, and how I see (maybe some cases hope) this tournament finishing.  

Major Moments

Rafa-Raz Doubles

The most historical doubles team in history. Some people probably mad because the Bryan Bros deserved that title and two singles guys can’t come in and swoop it. But the thing is the two of them together are a match in heaven. The fire they both share. The fact that Rafa is on his way out and Carlitos is taking the throne. It is like a passing of the torch but they are doing it together. They have dominated the majority of the matches they have played in, and when they get the point past the first three shots it is insanely tough to beat them. They will come up with a ridiculous get, one of them will hit a lob and set the other up, or they hit ridiculous dipping passing shots from all over the court. It is two of the most exciting players of all time on the same court, and it is (to me) a bigger ticket than any singles match this week. Doubles isn’t dead, it just isn’t marketed right. But that’s a story for another day. Fia and Rafa are starting to use more formations as well, particularly on Rafa’s serve, trying to play more traditional doubles and get free points. Also, Rafa is showing he has top notch volleys, hitting some insane reflex volleys with stick on them. We’ve seen him from the back of the court mainly through out his career, and that is what he is known for, but he is saying I can play up here too now. Both of their intensities combined lead to some fun moments for fans watching, one of them hitting a crazy shot and both getting pumped. You can see Carlitos saying “Vamos Rafa!”. It is a cool admiration, as Alcaraz clearly looks up to him, and Rafa is taking him under his wing this week. At times Whenever you put two of the greatest of all time on the same side of the net, chances are they are going to find a way. And the fact that it is at Roland Garros, where Rafa has found a way 14 times, it makes it even cooler. Whether they win gold, or any medal, it is historical to be able to watch them together. 

Withdrawals

A major part of this year’s Olympics has been the amount of withdrawals that took place days before the tournament. Really it goes back farther, months before, when some players decided not to play. Either because it was on clay, there are no points for the Olympics, or because they didn’t want to travel home from Wimbledon then back to Europe. For the USA two of their top ranked players, Tiafoe and Shelton, elected to play Atlanta and Washington over getting the Olympics experience. Not having those two guys crippled the USA’s team from fielding their best possible team, having Eubanks and Giron, instead who both lost first round. Eubanks got selected because the ranking cutoff was before he lost last years QF Wimby points, but has struggled since then. For a guy like Shelton you got to think he’ll have another Olympic chance but I don’t understand not taking that experience when given the chance. Other highly ranked players that elected not to play early on were Sabalenka,

Then, days before the Olympics began, there was an unbelievable amount of withdrawals, primarily in the Men’s Singles but also Women’s, and doubles. A few players decided to play only doubles due to health concerns, Murray, De Minaur, but many dropped out completely. Others that dropped out for whatever reason were Jannik Sinner, Elena Rybakina, Holger Rune, Norrie, Hurkacz, Fokina, Putintseva,  and more. Then Struff with the 3rd rd withdrawal. This led to players that were already on site at the Olympics, and in the doubles draw, getting called up to play instead of singles alternates. One example of that was unranked Matthew Ebden’s taking Andy Murray’s spot to play Djokovic, because he was already on site and cleared through the IOC. I get there are some logistical problems to go through for the IOC in terms of lodging, clearance, etc. but somebody who has earned the spot to play should be in instead. There are many top ranked players who elected not to play, but there’s many top 100 and 150 ranked players that would love the chance to play and have been there in a minute. 

The players don’t want an essential walkover first round, and the players given the chance to play singles have already made it in doubles, so it is not like it is some special chance to them. They know they don’t really deserve it so let’s let players who do deserve it but don’t have the chance to.

Favorites Roll On… Except Coco

For the first few days there were zero big upsets. And then we hit a fork in the road, and had our first big upset. Silver medal favorite, Coco Gauff, had been knocked out of the tournament. Other than that though, things were still going strong all around really. There were clear favorites coming into the tournaments and so far those players are still stilling. In all the draws but one, the top 2 players/teams I thought (and most thought) with a chance to win are still alive. Novak and Fia, 1ga, Raj/Kraj and Fia/Rafa, Coco/Pegula and Sinia/Krejickova. And for the Women’s Singles, it was a one horse race all along. None of the big favorites have really faced any resistance and through the first couple of rounds it’s been smooth sailing. Unfortunately Fia/Rafa and Raj/Kraj have collided earlier than everyone would’ve liked. They’re all still favored to get to the final, unless they play each other earlier, so any upset between then and here would be pretty major for the majority of those teams. In some divisions there’s a third player/team that could sneak in and maybe cause an upset. 

 Personally, I find it fun when there’s about 10 players that could potentially win it all. The best was the time after the Big 3 and in between when Fia became Fia, and the ATP had the three headed monster of Fia, Sin, Novak. Like the WTA post Serena. Now it is pretty known Sinner Alcaraz or Novak will win most tournaments, maybe Zverev, but he always seems to choke when it matters. He does have an Olympic Gold under his belt though so maybe that helps him in this tournament. And clay is his best surface. When there was a time where Tsitsipas had a chance, Zverev, Medvedev, Sinner, Alcaraz, Rublev, that’s when it was really fun. Now their teirs have settled in and we have a good idea who will take home the trophy. And that is all staying true so far in this tournament. 

What it does though, is calls for more entertaining later rounds of the tournament. When the stage Is high, and the lights are bright, you want the best players in their respective sport going at it. That’s what brings the viewers and that’s what bring the special intense moments that we all remember. But hey, I remember watching Federer beat Baghdatis so who am I to talk. But the stage of the Olympics medal rounds is a good time to have the best players in it. 

Yet to Come

American Dreamin’

Even though Coco Gauff is the youngest out of the American team, she has quickly become the most successful, and the most consistent. She might have been upset here, but she has proven she belongs with the top names in her sport. But for the others, can they have a week that puts them into the conversation with the top players as well. Can Tommy, Taylor, Navarro, or Collins take that jump into the next level of stardom. They have cemented themselves all as really good players, but just are a tier behind their goats. Alcaraz and Novak for the guys, and Iga for the women. But they’ve all proven they can beat the top players, they just gotta do it under the bright lights. Usually there’s 4 grand slams, this year there’s 5 so they get an extra opportunity. Who’s going to take it? Rajeev has won a medal for his country winning a silver medal in mixed doubles, with Venus Williams, at the Rio Olympics. But can any of those singles players make the leap into the top tier. There is nothing like winning a medal for your country, particularly a gold medal, and the country will respond to them like crazy when they get back home for the US Swing. Can you imagine TP or Danielle Collins walking into Ashe for their first round match, as the Gold Medal winner at that years Olympics. Some saw it with Andre, and we got so spoiled seeing it with Serena, but it would be cool to see with this generation. Serena’s sustained success we became so accustomed to but now that we don’t have that, can this be the start.

It’s going to be tough in the singles, but the way some of the guys and girls are playing, why not them? It would definitely be an upset for one of them to walk back into Olympic Village with a medal, particularly silver or gold, but they could do it. For the doubles, there is more of a realistic chance, maybe even at gold. Raj/Kraj are as good as it gets and Pegula/Coco are for the girls also. Especially with both Jess and Coco out of singles, their full attention on doubles, and even more of a chip on their shoulder knowing it’s their best chance at a medal. Fritz and Coco could medal also, but mixed is kind of a crap shoot, you never know, so this is their best chance. Both teams gotta be licking their chops, eagerly awaiting what could be a gold medal. Full time doubles players, and experience playing with each other, they both check every box you would want to check with a doubles pairing. For Raj/Kraj, they’ll have Fia and Rafa in the next round. That is the biggest test they’ll have, but as they say, “to be the best you got to beat the best”. If they win that, their sights are set on Gold. It would be pretty sick for Raj to bring a gold medal back to Indiana.

Alcaraz vs Djokovic part 7?

Are we on a collision course for part 7 of the short but storied rivalry between Alcaraz and Djokovic. The head to head is tied 3-3 right now, and outside of the Wimbledon Final a few weeks ago, they seem to play pretty epic matches. It only seems fitting that that would be the match to determine who won the gold medal. Would Novak finally conquer his long elusive Gold Medal and complete his infinity stones, or would Fia add on another monumental record to his resume and become the youngest gold medal winner in men’s singles history. If you ask me, Alcaraz will never lose, so if this does happen I like Alcaraz to beat Novak. He was going to beat him at RG 2023 until the cramps got too bad for him, beat him at Wimbledon 2023 and 2024, and seems to just be playing another worldly level of tennis. There’s truly nothing on the court he can’t do. Novak played more aggressive than normal in his 2nd round match vs Nadal, particularly on his backhand using it to attack when he had the chance. This is something he’s done against Nadal in the past on clay, but at Wimbledon vs Fia he tried to play ultra aggressive too. He served and volleyed relentlessly in that final and it never worked. He seemed like he was going to do that and either win with it or go home. Maybe it had to do with his injured knee too, who ever knows with Djokovic, he’s always hurt or tired when he plays a close match, it’s kinda a Djok. 

So far in this tournament the way Novak has played has also been a Djok. Winning 0 and 1 first round and then dominating Rafa 2nd rd for 90% of the match, he has seemed virtually unstoppable. And if anybody other than Charlie Alcaraz is on the other side of the net he probably is unstoppable. Carlitos hasn’t dropped a set either, but hasn’t been as unstoppable as Novak in his early matches. His scores have been closer, allowing there to be some moments of pressure, even saving a set point on his own serve in his 2nd rd match vs Griekspoor. However, how easily you win doesn’t count for the next rounds and it’s a new match each round. Both of these players play Wednesday in the rd of 16 and both should like their chances to move on. Both of these players are on a collision course to see each other in the final, and I think the two friends would be happy to play another epic battle for a gold medal.

Swiatek Statue?

Will Swiatek become the first female player to play at the same event she has a statue at? She certainly is very close to already deserving one and she is only 23 years old. She’s won 24 straight singles matches at Roland Garros and won the title 2 years before that streak started as well. So 30 of her last 31 match at that venue. Now, she is seemingly on her way to a gold medal at the same place and it seems like the only person who can stop her is herself.  I’m starting to wonder what else does she have to do to deserve a statue there?  The record for the most RG won by a woman is 7 titles  by Chris Evert, and Iga is primed to at least tie that, if not pass it. There is just not many people who can challenge her on that surface. I like to see most people get acknowledged with a jersey retirement, or statue, after their career to bring them back, have that cheer of the crowd one more time for the player. But in Iga’s case, she is ready for her statue.

Rafa of course didn’t get one until winning 13 Roland Garros, but it was evident they were going to give him one eventually. I think they were waiting for him to retire but he just never would. I think after the ceremony from this RG they’re still waiting for him to retire. We’ve seen Rafael Nadal play on a court named after him, but that’s Barcelona Open, on clay, which he won double digit times. Iga doesn’t have that luxury to play a home big tournament on her favorite surface and win it year after year. If Poland had a Polish Open on clay, best believe she would win it double digit times. Probably in 5 years. So that was just luck of the draw for Rafa. I’m not sure what else 1ga has to do to get her statue but I’m sure she’s going to prove even more why she deserves it. If she retired today, she’d have a hall of fame career, and probably will at least double her resume by the time it’s all said and done. 

Talk to me people. Do you think she deserves a statue at RG? Before she is done with her career?

Predictions