Tennis will enjoy the Roland Garros stage at the Paris 2024 Olympics : within a month the athletes will be called upon to tread the prestigious red clay of the French capital, first on the occasion of the famous Grand Slam and then for the Games. The decision that had been in the air for some time was made official yesterday, less than two years after the start of the five-circle review. After the grass in London 2012 and the concrete in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, this surface will return 40 years after the Barcelona 1992 edition.
This is clearly an advantage for those players who excel at broken brick. We think in particular of Rafael Nadal: the left-handed from Manacor has won Roland Garros in as many as 14 occasions , if the Iberian decides to continue his competitive activity for a couple of years he will be the great favorite of the eve. A little all of Spain can rejoice at this choice, also thinking about the potential of the young Carlos Alcaraz and the solidity of other veterans of the circuit (Pablo Carreno Busta, just to name one). It is known that the Olympic tournament is often different from other competitions on the ATP circuit and the underdogs jump very frequently, but undoubtedly the red represents an extra card for some athletes.
At the moment it is not a perfect surface for Italians. Jannik Sinner recently won the Umag tournament and made it to the quarter-finals of Roland Garros, but he has to refine some details. Matteo Berrettini prefers grass (finalist at Wimbledon) and cement , although he still has interesting skills on clay. Among other things, both were absent in Tokyo 2020 and therefore will have all the desire to shine in Paris. The choice of red will likely be unique, just like Wimbledon was in 2012, and it should then return to the decidedly more usual hard-hitting in Los Angeles 2028.
