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Carlos Alcaraz - Roland Garros 2024 and Iga Swiatek - Indian Wells 2024
Andy Murray, ATP Tennis Players, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Tennis News, Tennis Tournaments, WTA Tennis Players

Tennis at the Paris Olympics 2024 Preview: When is it, who is playing and how does it work?


The biggest sporting event in the world has arrived, with tennis set to make its 19th appearance at the Paris Olympic Games.

And we, at Tennishead, have everything you need to know about the iconic tournament:

How does tennis at the Olympics work?

There are five tennis events as part of the Paris Games, both men’s and women’s singles and doubles, as well as a mixed doubles tournament.

Singles draws feature 64 players, men’s and women’s doubles events consist of 32 teams, while the mixed doubles has a smaller draw of 16 teams.

All of these events are in a knockout format leading to the semi-finals, where the winner of each semi heads to the gold medal match, while the losers settle for the bronze medal contest.

Every tennis match is in a best-of-three set format, with doubles having a match tie-break at one set all.

When is the tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics 2024?

Tennis at the Paris Olympics gets underway on Saturday 27th July with both the singles and doubles draws, concluding on Sunday 4th August.

All 10 medal matches will take place between Friday 2nd August and Sunday 4th August.

Play on most days will get underway at 12pm local time (11am BST/6am EST), with the night session starting at 7pm in Paris (6pm BST/1pm EST).

Where is the tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics 2024 held?

The tournament in Paris will be held at Stade Roland Garros, the same venue that hosts the French Open every year.

A total of 12 tennis courts will be in use at the iconic venue, including Court Philippe-Chatrier that can hold a total of 15,225 spectators.

Court Philippe-Chatrier is one of two courts with a retractable roof in case of poor weather, alongside secondary showcourt Court Suzanne Lenglen (10,056 seats).

Who is playing at the tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics 2024?

After Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal due to illness, Novak Djokovic is the top seed in the men’s singles draw as he bids for that elusive gold medal.

However, Djokovic will face stern competition from second seed Carlos Alcaraz, who lifted the title at Roland Garros just under seven weeks ago and is also coming off the back of defending his Wimbledon crown.

Other top seeds in the men’s singles field include defending Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, who also reached the final at Roland Garros this year, as well as Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur and Casper Ruud.

Former Olympic champion and 14-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal is also in the draw, but there are concerns about the Spaniard after he took a day off training due to an apparent right leg injury.

If Nadal does play singles in Paris, then he is only one match away from a potential 60th meeting with great rival Djokovic.

There are less doubts over Nadal in the doubles draw however, as the 38-year-old teams up with Alcaraz in a first-time dream pairing.


It is still not clear whether this will be Nadal’s final competitive appearance on the grounds of Roland Garros, but it will certainly be Andy Murray’s.

Murray revealed earlier this week that the Olympics will be his final tournament, and the Brit is now only focussing on doubles with Dan Evans after withdrawing from the singles draw.

In the women’s field World No.1 Iga Swiatek is the top seed, as she bids to continue her 21-match winning streak at Roland Garros.

Swiatek suffered a second round exit in her debut Olympics in Tokyo, and will be hoping for a much better outcome this time around at a venue where she is so dominant.

Other top seeds in the women’s singles draw include American’s Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins, as well as Jasmine Paolini, Qinwen Zheng and Maria Sakkari.

Elina Svitolina is the only women’s singles medallist returning from the Tokyo Games, with the Ukrainian hoping to upgrade on her bronze in the French capital.

There are five other Grand Slam champions in the field, with Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Barbora Krejcikova, Jelena Ostapenko and Angelique Kerber all looking for more success on the big stage.

This will actually be 2016 silver medallist Kerber’s final tournament, after the former No.1 announced that she would be retiring following the Paris Games.

Are there any ranking points or prize money on offer at the Paris Olympics 2024?

Ranking points will not be on offer for players in Paris, and have not been part of the Olympics since London 2012.

As the Olympics began as an amateur event, the International Olympic Committee does not award official prize money, but some international federations reward players for medalling at the Games.

Tennis medallists from the Tokyo Olympic Games

The Tokyo Games were a very different experience for athletes than previous Games due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but they still produced some fantastic tennis and more historic moments on the big stage.

In the men’s singles event, Alexander Zverev backed up his semi-final victory over Novak Djokovic to take the gold medal from Karen Khachanov.

And it was Belinda Bencic, who is currently on maternity leave after giving birth to her first child, who claimed victory in the women’s singles final against Marketa Vondrousova.

Here are all the medallists from the five tennis events at the Tokyo Olympics:

EventGoldSilverBronze
Men’s SinglesAlexander Zverev (Germany)Karen Khachanov (Russian Olympic Committee)Pablo Carreno Busta (Spain)
Women’s SinglesBelinda Bencic (Switzerland)Marketa Vondrousova (Czech RepublicElina Svitolina (Ukraine)
Men’s DoublesNikola Mektic & Mate Pavic (Croatia)Marin Cilic & Ivan Dodig (Croatia)Marcus Daniell & Michael Venus (New Zealand)
Women’s DoublesBarbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic)Belinda Bencic & Viktorija Golubic (Switzerland)Laura Pigossi & Luisa Stefani (Brazil)
Mixed DoublesAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova & Andrey Rublev (Russian Olympic Committee)Elena Vesnina & Aslan Karatsev (Russian Olympic Committee)Ash Barty & John Peers (Australia)

How can you watch tennis at the Paris Olympics 2024?

You can watch all of the Paris Olympics tennis action on Eurosport and Discovery+ in the United Kingdom, and across some parts of Europe, with selected footage also being shown on the BBC.

In the United States of America, Peacock TV is streaming every sport and event from the French capital.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.