Paris 2024 Olympics Tennis tips: Carlos Alcaraz the man to beat, Novak Djokovic to contend

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Tennis event will be played at Roland Garros from Saturday 27 July to 4 August, during the first week of the Games.

The red clay of Roland Garros makes this event quite different from past iterations.

Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games from the very first event in 1896 but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics due to disputes between the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee over how to define amateurs.

The sport returned as a full medal event at the 1988 Summer Olympics open for all players regardless of their age and status and has been played at every Olympic Games since then.

 

Gold Medal Winner favourites

Seeding to the tournament is determined by ATP Ranking and the top three seeds are the favourites for the Gold.

None of the three leading favourites have claimed an Olympic gold medal before.

Odds displayed are drawn from Planetsportbet.com and are subject to change.

 

Carlos Alcaraz - 7/4

The French Open champion starts as the short-price favourite with consideration given to how little time has passed between his third Major win and the Olympics getting underway at the same venue.

In the interval, Alcaraz has defended his Wimbledon crown and maintained his status as world number two ahead of Novak Djokovic and behind Jannik Sinner.

The draw later this week will determine who he is bound for a semi-final meeting with but it will not be Sinner, whom Alcaraz beat in Paris in an epic last-four battle in June.

 

Jannik Sinner - 3/1

Jannik Sinner was among the favourites for the French Open and is drawing money again for the Olympics but at slightly longer odds this time around.

Sinner's chances would be enhanced by an early defeat for Alcaraz and he would assume the mantle of favourite if the Spaniard falters at all.

The world number one has played at an incredible level throughout the season with four titles and 42 match wins to his name this term including a maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne.

 

Novak Djokovic - 3/1

Novak Djokovic is not the favourite as he pursues the one accolade that is missing from his incredible collection of honours, an Olympic gold medal.

Yet to win a title this season and looking just a shade off his best, Djokovic has shown that he can still get into the latter stages of Slams.

He was forced to withdraw from the Roland Garros last eight with a meniscus tear but showed that his level will keep him in contention for that gold medal.

 

Alexander Zverev - 6/1

The defending Olympic champion and beaten Roland Garros finalist hasn't done the best PR ahead of the games after he got into a spat with French player Arthur Fils in Hamburg last week.

Still, whether he is popular or not isn't relevant to his chances of taking another gold medal home from Paris to go with his Tokyo bling.

Zverev is a great outside bet for those who feel that the top players might falter in their quest for the big one.

 

Rafael Nadal - 10/1

Some might accuse the bookies of rare sentimentality with this call but you can never write off Nadal in this setting.

Nadal came close to capturing his first title in two years in Sweden last week before running out of steam in the final.

The occasion of the Olympics and a final hurrah at Roland Garros could give him that extra boost to get over the line.

 

Casper Ruud - 14/1

The clay court technician whom everyone seems to be forgetting about is Casper Ruud as he chases a rare Summer Olympics medal for Norway.

Norway won four gold in Tokyo but could not top the podium at all in Rio five years earlier in Rio.

This will be Ruud's first Olympic Games campaign.