The Olympics happen every four years and are a unique event and experience. It is the next major tennis event, taking place from July 27th to August 4th at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris. This is only the third time the Olympics are played on a different surface than hard courts and the second time on clay since 1992.
The change in surface gives certain players different advantages and disadvantages. It practically eliminates a lot of players who would’ve had a chance on hard courts. The matches being best-of-three gives opportunities to many players to cause upsets and do the unthinkable. But, the limelight will be on the favourites.
Top 5 Favorites to win Men’s Singles Olympic Gold
Carlos Alcaraz
Rafael Nadal recently said that Alcaraz will be the favourite, whatever the tournament and the surface. Carlos Alcaraz is in the zone after winning Wimbledon. He won the French Open in this venue and will fancy his chances to win the gold medal in his first Olympics.
Alcaraz is in the form of his life, as evidenced by his performance against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final. He played lights-out tennis from the get-go and came to win it. That was probably the best performance of his young career. He has too much power and speed for everyone else and keeps adding to his game, tournament after tournament. The Spaniard doesn’t rely on pattern play and seems to pull the trigger whenever he feels like it. He has faith that mathematically, despite the ups and downs, more times than not it will work out for him.
It would be an enormous challenge for the opponents to hit through Alcaraz on clay. He gets every ball back with his elite speed and is a master of stealing points. Alcaraz’s serve has improved compared to last year. It seems like he has more power, placement at least as good, and variety intact. Meanwhile, the rest of his game is ideal. And the big one is all his experience dealing with and surpassing the mental challenges of late-stage big matches, and getting all that confidence set in his memories. Although he occasionally loses concentration, he has demonstrated that he is incredibly focused when it matters most.
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic has won it all in his illustrious career except for the Olympic Gold. Djokovic has been intensely trying to get that gold medal for a long time and this will most likely be his last chance to get it. His emotional reactions in the past suggest that he cares a lot about the Olympics. However, there are still some question marks over his movement.
Not many people would have thought Djokovic would reach the Wimbledon final a month after his knee surgery. However, it was obvious in the final that he wasn’t nearly as aggressive on the offense or defense, and that it was a knee-preservation attempt from him. Djokovic was completely outplayed in the final by Alcaraz. He had a couple of good moments in the third set, but he was off balance from the opening service game.
It is crystal clear that Djokovic hasn’t played his best tennis this year and is behind the likes of Alcaraz and Sinner but he has said many times that the Olympics are his main priority this year. The matches being best-of-three will help Djokovic to preserve his energy. He was not ready mentally and physically to face Alcaraz in Wimbledon but if his knee is 100%, he has a shot against anyone.
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Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev won the Gold Medal at the Tokyo Olympics and should be in contention again. He has been in great form this year and loves to play on clay. Winning the Tokyo Olympics was one of the biggest moments of Zverev’s career and he has always rated it right up there.
Zverev has been nursing a knee injury he sustained against Cameron Norrie at Wimbledon. According to him, he is still not pain-free but it is getting better with time. Zverev is coming off a finals loss in his home tournament in Hamburg, losing to Arthur Fils in an epic three-setter. This gives him the reps on clay after the grass season and will make him feel ready to defend his gold medal at the Olympics.
The best-of-three format suits him; fatigue won’t be an issue nor will the scars of letting a two-set lead disappear away be on his mind. Zverev has an excellent clay game, with a big booming serve and powerful groundstrokes. He is playing more aggressively and has the experience of winning big matches on big occasions. He was one set away from winning the French Open and if everything clicks, he will be a nightmare for the rest of the draw.
Casper Ruud
This edition of the Olympics is the biggest chance for Casper Ruud to win a Gold Medal, considering it’s happening on his favorite surface. Ruud has a 23-5 win-loss record on clay this year and has multiple titles and finals. He reached the finals of the Monte Carlo Masters and backed it up with the biggest title of his career in Barcelona. He went on to win the Geneva Open title just before the start of the French Open, where he made the semifinals for the third consecutive year.
Ruud was unwell during his French Open semifinal match against Alexander Zverev and would have expected to win if he had been in good health. He has the perfect game for this surface. One of the best forehands on tour combined with great movement and endurance. His backhand has improved this year which makes it harder to target for the opponents. He is well prepared and can’t be underestimated on his favorite clay courts at Roland Garros.
Rafael Nadal
It’s impossible not to put the greatest clay courter of all time as one of the contenders in a big clay event. He has won Gold at the Olympics before and while he is nowhere at his best he is still Rafael Nadal. He has been prepping only for the Olympics while most of the top players have been playing on grass and now have to transition back to clay. The Olympics will be held at Roland Garros, where he has won 14 titles.
Nadal made the final in Bastad and it was a positive week for him as he got some good reps in and fought through rough moments to get to the final. His fight, fire, desire and determination are still all there. However, his backhand was pretty bad overall, lacks depth and pace and he’s been just rolling it more than he used to. His serve is not good enough and for that reason, he has to rally on almost every point and had nothing left in the tank against uno Borges. His movement improved with every match so that’s a good sign.
The biggest positive for Nadal is that he looks healthy and did not pick any fresh injury. While the Olympics is going to be much harder with full-field showing up, maybe the chemistry between him and Philippe Chatrier court does the trick there and he pulls off a miracle.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
