It’s just 100 days to go to the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

With the Olympic Tennis Event set to kick off at Roland Garros on Saturday 27 July – the day after the opening ceremony – the race for a place in Paris is already beginning to heat up.

Of course, the event is smaller than a Grand Slam in terms of draw size – with a 64 draw in the men’s and women’s events, 32 draw in the men’s and women’s doubles, and 16 draw in the mixed doubles event, so competition for a place will be fierce.

Who will play at Paris 2024?

That is very much yet to be determined and while we have a good idea of a portion of the likely men’s and women’s singles fields, all eyes will be on the ATP and WTA rankings of 10 June – the day after Roland Garros – as the first key milestone for determining the majority of players who will take part.

To understand more about the qualification process for the Olympic Tennis Event, read our guide here.

Have some athletes already guaranteed their spot in singles at Paris 2024 via the regional games?

Well, yes and no - in that nothing is yet 'guaranteed'. Two men’s and women’s singles places into Paris 2024 are available for finalists of the Pan American Games, and one per singles event for winners of the Asian and African Games.

However, those places are still subject to those athletes being ranked inside the ATP or WTA Top 400 on 10 June, and on the condition that they are part of each nation’s quota of four athletes per singles event.

Gotcha, so who has put themselves in a strong position to qualify via the regional games?

The players below enjoyed excellent showings at the regional games to put them on the path to Paris 2024, but a few still have some work to do to secure their place. Current world No. 544 Angella Okutoyi, for instance, will need to raise her ranking by at least 144 spots if she is to become the first Kenyan woman to take part in the Olympic women’s singles event.

World No. 53 Facundo Diaz Acosta, meanwhile, despite having a ranking that would usually merit entry by direct acceptance, is the fifth-highest ranked Argentine and therefore could just miss out by virtue of not being in his nation’s top 4 quota. There is plenty of time for that to change, of course, between now and 10 June.

African Games

Men’s champion: Moez Echargui (TUN) (Re-cap Moez's triumph here)
Women’s champion: Angella Okutoyi (KEN) (Re-cap Angella's golden moment here)

Asian Games

Men’s champion: Zhang Zhizhen (CHN) (Look back on Zhang's golden Asian Games here)
Women’s: champion: Zheng Qinwen (CHN) (Re-cap Zheng's proud moment here)

Pan American Games

Men’s champion: Facundo Diaz Acosta (ARG) (Re-cap Diaz Acosta's Santiago triumph here)
Men’s runner-up: Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI)
Women’s champion: Laura Pigossi (BRA) (Look back on Pigossi's magical medal moment here)
Women’s runner-up: Maria Lourdes Carle (ARG)

 

There are also two ITF places into the men's and women's singles for Grand Slam/Olympic champions who aren't a direct entry, right? What's the status of that?

Correct, and again, much could change before the ranking cut-off on 10 June, but some high-profile players may have some work to do to boost their ranking before then. 

The likes of Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic on the men's side, and Bianca Andreescu, Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Emma Raducanu and Simona Halep on the women's side could be looking to this as a route into Paris 2024 if their ranking is not sufficiently high by 10 June for direct entry.

Players who haven't played the necessary number of Davis Cup or Billie Jean King Cup ties for their nation will also need to apply for an exemption from the ITF Olympic Committee.

In short... let the race to the Games begin!