Injuries, undated returns and abrupt changes: uncertainty on the circuit months before Paris
Murray's return to the Games is unknown. He is the only two-time singles champion. Credits: ATP TourIn a different instance, but with the same outcome, the Miami Open reissued the Tokyo 2020 final...
Murray's return to the Games is unknown. He is the only two-time singles champion. Credits: ATP Tour
In a different instance, but with the same outcome, the Miami Open reissued the Tokyo 2020 final. Alexander Zverev, in straight sets (6-1 and 6-4), dismissed Karen Khachanov and entered the quarterfinals. The connection, in short, is provided as an Olympic trigger: the ATP and WTA circuits recently had several incidents that could have a full impact on the staff of Paris 2024.
The rupture of two ligaments in his left ankle did more than pave the way for Andy Murray’s elimination against Thomas Machac in the third round. The career of the only two-time Olympic singles champion became, above all, uncertain. “I can’t wait for the end to come,” he said first. “I will be out for an extended period,” he later alarmed via social media. The indefinite period could cover Bois de Boulogne, which would mean his second absence in a row from the Olympic tournament. A week after the injury, after giving up Monte Carlo (April 7) and Munich (15 of the same month), he is still evaluating the ideal treatment that will allow him to be in the French capital.
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While the balls pounded in the celestine cement of Miami Gardens, the Mutua Madrid Open confirmed an open secret on its cardboard: Rafael Nadal’s return will be in a clay tournament. A few weeks ago he had shown himself in his social media training on the surface of Roland Garros and Roland Garros bis, Paris 2024. The reappearance, however, may take place two or a week earlier, in Monte Carlo or Conde de Godó (April 15), which are also showing it on their presentation poster. “It’s hard for me to predict what’s going to happen,” he said about the dates during an event at his Foundation.
Whether in Monaco, Barcelona or the Magic Box, it will be the first stop in a clay season that can close with the search for the third Olympic title (won in singles in Beijing 2008 and in doubles in Rio 2016), an unprecedented feat in tennis. Rafa, out of the top 600, urgently needs to score points so as not to depend on a possible invitation card from the ITF.
Nadal, in the Monte Carlo cover letter. I would enter with a protected ranking. Credits: Masters 1000 Monte CarloAn Olympic Game is the item that Novak Djokovic has yet to mark in either gold or silver ink. The only medal in four participations was bronze, almost 16 years ago in Beijing. The Number 1 doesn’t hide his obstinacy of Olympic glory: “I’m looking forward to it,” he warned. “It will be one of my big priorities” he insisted after winning the seventh Masters trophy. Without titles in 2024 and with Paris as his near north, Djokovic parted ways with his coach Goran Ivanisevic after six years “of chemistry on the court with ups and downs”. The decision was made on time: in the run-up to the rotation of the surface that the missing objective has in store for him. He came down from Miami to emphasize his suitability to clay. He is still looking for a coach, although he doesn’t rule out doing it without one. Will it be a clay specialist?
While qualifying was still being played in Miami, won by Jannik Sinner (new No. 2, he may be the first Italian Olympic champion) and Danielle Collins (she will retire at the end of the year), the IOC announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes were excluded from the opening ceremony in Paris 2024. After the decision, the aftermath of the war in Ukraine reappeared at the sporting level. The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, whose notoriety was amplified by the death of her ex-partner, and the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina refused to greet each other after the clash in the third round. A postcard repeated since 2022 that Paris 2024 can consolidate as an unwanted ritual.
