Tennis will be one of the most anticipated Olympic events at Paris 2024, with a cast of superstar players aiming for gold.
From new stars to veterans, competition will be fierce in both the men's and women's tournaments.
Here are five of the top contenders for gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics:
Carlos Alcaraz – Spain
Alcaraz is the clear favourite for gold in men's singles, having won the 2024 French Open at Roland-Garros, which is also the same clay court that hosts the Paris Olympics tournament.
He also claimed his fourth career Grand Slam title at Wimbledon on July 14, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final.
That victory marked the second consecutive Wimbledon title for the Spaniard, who has already earned nearly $35 million in prize money, all at the tender age of 21.
Born in Alicante in south-east Spain, Alcaraz claimed his first Grand Slam title as a teenager by lifting the US Open trophy in 2022 after beating Norwegian Casper Ruud.
Alcaraz is also scheduled to play doubles tennis with compatriot Rafael Nadal at the Olympics, so there is a good chance he will leave Paris with two gold medals.
Naomi Osaka – Japan
After the disappointment in her hometown at Tokyo 2020, all eyes will be on Osaka as she seeks redemption for her disappointing third-round loss at the last Olympics in her native Japan.
Born in the city that bears the same name as the world's number 102, Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron at the Japan Games. At the time second seed (and also world number two), Osaka was defeated by Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who would go on to lose the final to Switzerland's Belinda Bencic.
The right-hander has four Grand Slam titles under her belt – the US Open in 2018 and 2020 and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021 – and is on track to make a comeback after taking a lengthy break from the game for the birth of her first child.
Osaka returned to action as a wildcard at the Australian Open this year but has failed to make it past the second round at all three Grand Slams to date in 2024. She will be hoping to turn her season around with a medal at the Paris Olympics.
Novak Djokovic – Serbia
Following his defeat in the Wimbledon final to Alcaraz, Djokovic will be eager to immediately return to winning ways at Paris 2024.
The 37-year-old holds the record for the most weeks as world number one and is currently second behind Italian Jannik Sinner.
With a record 24 Grand Slam titles under his belt, the Olympics offer the Serbian one last frontier to conquer.
Djokovic's best Olympic performance to date is a bronze medal in 2008.
Iga Swiatek – Poland
With three consecutive French Open titles under her belt, world number one Swiatek is the overwhelming favourite in the women's singles at Roland-Garros in Paris.
At the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, the Pole was eliminated in the second round in her opening matches, just two months after winning her first French Open title.
But given her love affair with the clay courts of Paris (she has won 31 of her last 32 matches at Roland-Garros), a golden summer is expected for Swiatek at the Olympics.
Rafael Nadal – Spain
In an extraordinary move, Nadal has withdrawn from this year's Wimbledon Championships, citing his desire to focus on the Olympics.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion is expected to play in both the singles and doubles tournaments in Paris.
Nadal had already won Olympic gold twice before, defeating Fernando Gonzalez at the Beijing Games and eight years later, partnering Marc Lopez to win the 2016 doubles in Rio de Janeiro.
Her current world ranking has fallen to 224 and she is expected to retire from tennis at the end of 2024, making her return to Roland-Garros a potential farewell to the place where she won a record 14 French Open titles.
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