We are currently in a very interesting phase of the 2024 tennis season – usually one where players get some well-deserved rest before the hardcourt swing or play 250s and 500s around the world. But this year, most players get ready for the 2024 Olympics in Paris and therefore need to prepare for another clay court highlight. But how do they actually prepare for it?
The turnaround back to clay – once in a lifetime?
Daniil Medvedev spoke about the short turnaround back to clay after Wimbledon in detail. And thereby mentioned that this is most likely the only time in his career that he will do it. The surface of the Olympics is determined by the respective organizational committee, and therefor will differ every time. Sydney, Athens and Beijing were played on hardcourt, London on grass and Rio and Tokyo on hardcourt again. Paris is the first Olympic tournament since Barcelona 1992, which is played on a clay court. So, the move back from grass to clay is one that top players would not have done in regular years.
But they now are forced to do so and typically face the question whether to play tournaments or prepare with a larger training block. The ATP and WTA tour offer a couple of option before July 27th, that come in handy for this. The ATP currently hosts tournaments in Hamburg, Gstaad and Bastad on clay and will go on to do so in Kitzbühel and Umag next week. The WTA is present in Palermo and Budapest this week, before going to Prague and Iasi next week. All these tournaments are 250 level, with the exception of Hamburg, which is an ATP 500 of course.
Who is playing the tournaments?
The biggest name on men’s side currently on court is Alexander Zverev. The German is playing his hometown tournament in Hamburg, most likely also due to his personal connection with the city. Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev played the Bastad event, but both already lost in the round of 16, giving them some work to do until the Olympics. Other players in action include Tsitsipas, Rune, Auger-Aliassime, Baez and Arthur Fils. Most of these players either exited early at Wimbledon or typically would play lots of events in either case, so I think that the Olympics did not really affect a lot of decisions about playing here.
On the women’s side it is only Qinwen Zheng from the top-10 that is playing in Palermo this week. The only other players in the top 50 playing are Diana Shnaider and Karolina Muchova, all others are sitting this week out. The Czech stars Krejcikova and Noskova are expected to play Prague next week, and Putintseva and Andreeva will play Iasi. Of course, the low participation of players on the women’s side is also because there is no WTA 500 offered, but it seems like the consensus here is to prepare individually.
The men will have another week of tournaments too, with Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev playing in Kitzbühel and Umag respectively. Probably lured by higher appearance fees, they will continue to prepare by playing tournaments, alongside clay specialists such as Baez, Tabilo or Darderi. Other known names appearing on the list include Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti in Umag. Generally speaking, it also appears that the men prefer to prepare individually, unless you have been out of shape or like to play clay court events.
How do you prepare otherwise?
Of course, the big names will sit out the preparation events as per usual. Jannik Sinner is still recovering from fatigue and was seen to be hitting in Monte Carlo with Kei Nishikori these days. Carlos Alcaraz is out and about following his triumph in London, getting tattoos and celebrating before getting back to work at home in Alicante. And Novak Djokovic will most likely give his knee a few more days to recover, before attacking what could be the final chance at the only missing title in his resume.Â
The Americans around Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul went back home after Wimbledon, where they are preparing in- and outside of the gym to represent their country. Lastly, the ones injured in London, like Hurkacz and DeMinaur, seem to be trying to get back until the Olympics. Hurkacz had a smaller knee procedure, which has not definitely ruled him out of the tournament yet. There is no final word on Alex DeMinaur yet, who appears to still be in the Olympics nominations, but his injury would suggest that he cannot compete come July 27th.
On the women’s side we have seen Iga Swiatek playing on a clay court already for weeks. Whilst she may not play an event before the Olympic Games, she definitely seems to be well in the driver’s seat for a gold medal. All other top-10 players, minus Sabalenka, will play there as well, but none of them besides Zheng and Krejcikova will play an event before.
Some are still enjoying a few holidays, like Elena Rybakina in Turkey, others are out on the practice courts, just like Maria Sakkari back at home in Greece.
Will the preparation make a difference?
Given that the best players seem to agree that they won’t play another event, I don’t think it makes a lot of difference for the favorites. The men’s field clearly sees Alcaraz and Sinner as the players to beat, if they are healthy that is. Alexander Zverev with two healthy knees seems to be another favorite, with clay being his favorite surface and the Olympic victory of 2021 in his bag. The players that are currently out on the court, like Ruud and Rublev, do not seem to be in the shape needed to excel at the Olympics.
In the women’s tournament, everything but a Swiatek victory would be a large surprise. And if you see that hardly any top player is preparing at an event, this only adds to her good position. She had an early exit at Wimbledon and had enough time to build to a good clay court shape now, which will most likely show in a week from now.
Who are your favorites for the Olympics and who would like to see succeed?
