Jul 25

FAVOURABLE DE MINAUR PATH; POTENTIAL DJOKOVIC-NADAL CLASH: OLYMPIC DRAW

Australia's contingent received a brutal draw aside from fifth seed Alex de Minaur in both the men's and women's singles draw, while a potential second round encounter between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is on the cards.

The official draw took place in Paris earlier today, as the tennis world has been rocked by an abundance of news - including the withdrawals of Jannik Sinner, Andy Murray (singles), and Holger Rune as well as three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber announcing her retirement post-tournament.

First Round Matches: Aussies Men's Singles: Alex de Minaur [5] v Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany) Alexei Popyrin v Nicolás Jarry [16] (Chile)

Rinky Hijikata v Daniil Medvedev [4] (ROC) Matt Ebden v Novak Djokovic [1] (Serbia) De Minaur, making his Olympic debut after racing back from a hip injury, avoids 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic on the opposite half but is projected to meet reigning Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. It is a nightmare draw for Popyrin, Hijikata, and Ebden who will require their best tennis to get over the line and cause a few shocks. The main headline however is the likely second round clash between Djokovic and Nadal, with the Serbian aiming to clinch his first-ever gold medal in the final piece of silverware missing. Nadal, a 14-time French Open winner, will compete in his final Olympics.

Other notable absentees include Hubert Hurkacz, Andrey Rublev, Frances Tiafoe, and Ben Shelton due to either injury or ineligibility.

Women's Singles:

Ajla Tomljanović v Coco Gauff [2] (USA)

Daria Saville (Alt) v Qinwen Zheng (7) (CHN)

The women's field is missing a handful of top-calibre players including Aryna Sabalenka, Markéta Vondroušová, Ons Jabeur, Madison Keys, Victoria Azarenka and Elena Rybakina who pulled out just after the draw was done which has allowed another Aussie Daria Saville to come in to the draw. Saville is to play 7th seed Qinwen Zheng with her original opponent Caroline Garcia now replacing Rybakina to play Romania's Jacquelin Cristian. Coco Gauff will undoubtedly be Iga Swiatek's main rival for the gold medal, facing Australia's own Ajla Tomljanović in the opening round in what on paper is a routine path to the final.

Men's Doubles: Aussies Matt Ebden/John Peers v Hady Habib/Benjamin Hassan (Lebanon) Alex de Minaur/Alexei Popyrin v Austin Krajicek/Rajeev Ram (USA)