Men’s Singles
The draw threw up the intriguing possibility of a Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v Rafael Nadal (Spain) second-round matchup and that came to fruition but Djokovic sealed a comfortable straight-sets victory and would make the semi-finals without dropping a set. In the second quarter, Lorenzo Mussetti (Italy) would upset both Taylor Fritz (United States) and Alexander Zverev (Germany) to reach the semi-final. Also with two upsets to make the semi-final was Felix Auger Aliassime (Canada) who beat Daniil Medvedev (Russia) and Casper Ruud (Norway). He would come up against Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) in the semi-final. The semi-finals would see straight sets victories for the two favourites setting up a Roland Garros rematch. In the bronze medal matchup, Auger Aliassime would fall in three sets with too many unforced errors. Djokovic would win two tiebreaks in an enthralling match to take the golden medal and complete the career golden slam.
🥇Novak Djokovic 🇷🇸
🥈Carlos Alcaraz 🇪🇸
🥉Lorenzo Musetti 🇮🇹
I fancied Tsitsipas to do well before the draw, but patiently my faith in Djokovic was rewarded. Given his motivation and less game time, I felt confident even when Alcaraz made it through to the final. I hadn’t expected the Spaniard to do well given his heavy workload over recent months but his talent is just so large. I tried to go for an outsider to take bronze and went for the wrong one but warned Musetti is a danger to Jarry.
Men’s Doubles
Carreno Busta/Granollers (Spain) upset the number one seeds Bolelli/Vavassori (Italy) in the first round. The story of the first round was Evans/Murray (Great Britain) who were down 2-6 2-4 and saved five match points in what could have been the last Murray match. They would repeat the feat in the following round saving two match points but finally, Fritz/Paul (United States) ended the fairytale in the quarter-final. The other story was the clay kings from Spain, Nadal/Alcaraz (Spain). They would go out in the quarter-finals to Krajicek/Ram (United States), who would go onto the gold medal matchup. They would come up against Ebden/Peers (Australia) who reached the final without losing a set. The final was incredibly tight with the Aussies coming back after to lose the first set tiebreak, to win the second. In the super tie-break, they would get the 10-8 victory to seal gold. Fritz/Paul would take bronze with a straight-set victory.
🥇Matthew Ebden/Jon Peers 🇦🇺
🥈Austin Krajicek/Rajeev Ram 🇺🇸
🥉Taylor Fritz/Tommy Paul 🇺🇸
I pointed out that Alcaraz/Nadal were overrated as a doubles pairing and the final was between two pairs which have far greater doubles pedigree.
Women’s Singles
The biggest game in the first round saw Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Naomi Osaka (Japan) in what she confirmed would be her last tournament. She would eventually go out in the quarter-finals to Qinwen Zheng (China). To top it off, she would beat the Queen of Roland Garros, Iga Swiatek (Poland). The other half would see Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Slovakia) beat three seeds to make the semi-finals where she would come up against Donna Vekic (Croatia) who beat Coco Gauff (United States) in a match that featured a controversial umpire call. It was a step too far for Schmiedlova, as she’d lose in straight sets to Vekic. It would be the same story in the third-place play-off. Zheng would take the final in straight sets 6-2 6-3.
🥇Qinwen Zheng 🇨🇳
🥈Donna Vekic 🇭🇷
🥉Iga Swiatek 🇵🇱
This was one of the shocks of the Olympics for me. Swiatek has been so dominant at Roland Garros normally. Neither Zheng nor Vekic were mentioned as possible contenders.
Women’s Doubles
The top seeds Gauff/Pegula (United States) were beaten by Muchova/Noskova (Czech Republic) in a tiebreak. They would go on to make the semi-finals against Errani/Paolini (Italy). In the bottom half, Bucsa/Sorribes Torno(Spain) would come through the top quarter as Collins/Krawczyk (United States) were eliminated before the seeds could clash. Andreeva/Shnaider (Russia) would beat two seeded pairs in straight sets to make the semi-final. Both the semi-finals would be won in straight sets by the Italian and Russian pairs. In the bronze medal matchup, the Czech pair had way too many unforced errors to allow Spain to take bronze. The Italians would take gold, winning a super-tiebreak.
🥇Sara Errani/Jessica Paolini 🇮🇹
🥈Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider 🇷🇺
🥉Cristina Bucsa/Sara Sorribes Torno 🇪🇸
I did expect the Italians to go well and would have picked them over the Russian team in the final. I mentioned the Spanish pair as threats and should have maybe given more credence to the proven form as a pairing.
Mixed Doubles
By the semi-finals, all four of the seeded teams had been eliminated. Siegmund/Zverev (Germany) went out in round one to Siniakova/Machac (Czechia) whilst Sakkari/Tsitsipas (Greece) lost to Schuurs/Kolhoof (Netherlands). Perez/Ebden (Australia) lost in the quarter-final to Wang/Zhang (China) whilst Gauff/Fritz (United States) lost to Dabrowski/Auger-Aliassime (Canada). The Czech pair would win in straight sets to make the final. Wang/Zhang (China) beat Netherlands in a super tie-break to make the final. Canada would win the bronze medal match-up. In the final, the Czech pair took the victory 10-8 in a super tie-break
🥇Katerina Siniakova/Tomas Machac 🇨🇿
🥈Wang Xinyu/Zhang Zhizhen 🇨🇳
🥉Gabriela Dabrowski/Felix Auger-Aliassime 🇨🇦
Of all the tennis events, this always feels the toughest to predict.
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