5 storylines to watch out for at Paris Olympics 2024 ft. Novak Djokovic's quest for elusive gold, Rafael Nadal's potential final Roland Garros dance

The 2024 Olympics will soon be upon us. The grandest sporting spectacle will begin on Friday, July 26, in the picturesque principal city of France - Paris. Over 10,000 athletes from 206 participating nations will compete across 329 events in 32 varied sports until Sunday, August 11.

One of the 32 sports included in this year's Olympics is tennis. The racket sport hasn't been among the regular competitions in the Games' history. It was a part of the inaugural edition held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, and remained an event of contention till 1924.

Tennis wasn't featured as a medal sport at the Olympics until it was reintroduced in 1988 (Seoul). Notably, it was the edition where Steffi Graf achieved the unthinkable by winning the gold medal in the women's singles draw to complete the Calendar Year Golden Slam. Graf became the first player to win the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open, and Olympics gold, a feat that no man or woman has repeated to this day.

The tennis schedule at the 2024 Paris Olympics consists of five events - men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles - scheduled between July 27 and August 4 to be played at Roland Garros.

There won't be a Steffi Graf repeat at the Olympics this year as the three Grand Slams already concluded this year have produced distinct champions. On the men's singles circuit, Jannik Sinner (Australian Open) and Carlos Alcaraz (French Open and Wimbledon) have tasted glory, whereas Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Barbora Krejcikova have lifted the women's singles silverware in Melbourne, Paris, and London respectively.

Nonetheless, the 2024 Games will unfold numerous storylines to cater to tennis enthusiasts in every corner of the globe. Below are five storylines fans should watch out for in Paris:

#5 Iga Swiatek looks to strengthen her fortress at Roland Garros

Iga Swiatek enters the women's singles Olympics draw as a four-time champion at Roland Garros. She lifted the French Open singles trophy not long ago in June this year. She did so by dishing out three bagels and dropping only one set throughout the tournament. In the 2024 final, she defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 to complete a hattrick of titles at the claycourt Major.

Ever since debuting at the French Open in 2019, Swiatek has played 37 matches in Paris and lost only two, taking her average to an impressive 95 percent. She is touted by many as the future 'Queen of Roland Garros' and claiming the gold in this year's Olympics will strengthen her fortress at Philippe Chatrier.

Swiatek will accompany compatriots Magdalena Frech and Magda Linette in the singles draw. Notably, she was pitted to fight for a mixed doubles medal as well, but her partner Hubert Hurkacz's withdrawal due to injury has ruled out that possibility.

#4 Andy Murray's farewell

Andy Murray has announced that the 2024 Paris Olympics will be his last competitive tennis tournament.

"Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament @Olympics Competing for [Great Britain] have been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get do it one final time," he recently wrote on X.

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Murray's professional career began in 2005. The Brit claimed three Grand Slam titles and held the World No. 1 ranking for 41 weeks. Along with personal accolades, he also earned glory for Great Britain.

At the 2012 Olympics in London, he defeated Switzerland's Roger Federer in the gold-medal match to become the first British man to win the Olympic gold after Josiah Ritchie did it in 1908. Murray also won the mixed doubles silver with Laura Robson.

The Brit won another gold for Great Britain by defeating Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in the Rio Olympics final in 2016.

Andy Murray is set to battle in the singles and doubles at Roland Garros this year. For the singles draw, he is accompanied by fellow Brits Jack Draper, Dan Evans, and Cameron Norrie. He has joined forces with Evans to represent Great Britain in the doubles.

#3 Coco Gauff to become the youngest American flag bearer at the Olympics opening ceremony

History awaits Coco Gauff at the 2024 Paris Olympics as she has been picked as the female flag bearer for the US in the opening ceremony scheduled on Friday, July 26. Aged 20, she will become the youngest and the first tennis player from the US to walk with the Stars and Stripes during the opening ceremony.

Gauff is set to compete for the women's singles and doubles medals at Roland Garros. Currently placed second and 13th in the respective singles and doubles WTA rankings, she is among the favorites to secure a medal for her country.

She will take the field in the singles draw with fellow Americans including Danielle Collins, Emma Navarro, and Jessica Pegula. In the doubles contention, she will team up with long-time partner Pegula.

#2 Novak Djokovic's quest for elusive gold

Ever since taking up tennis professionally, Novak Djokovic has won it all. He leads the all-time Grand Slam winners' tally with 24 Major titles to his name, tied with Margaret Court.

Djokovic boasts 428 weeks as the World No. 1, the most in tennis history, with the likes of Steffi Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), and Serena Williams (319) holding the descending positions.

He also sits atop the list of players with the most ATP Masters 1000 trophies. He has won 40 Masters titles and leads his contemporaries Rafael Nadal (36) in second and Roger Federer (28) in third place.

However, Nadal and Federer possess an Olympic gold (Nadal in the singles and Federer in the doubles), an achievement that has eluded Djokovic his entire career. The Serb has played in every edition of the quadrennial event after 2004. He secured a bronze medal for Serbia in his debut attempt at Beijing in 2008.

Since then, he hasn't been able to help Serbia's tally at the Olympics. In London, he fought for the podium finish in singles and doubles but ended fourth and 17th, beside Viktor Troicki, in the respective categories.

Rio brought further misery for him as he couldn't march past the first round in singles and exited the doubles contention in the second round with partner Nenad Zimonjic. In Tokyo, Djokovic competed in the singles and mixed doubles, with Nina Stojanovic, but finished fourth in both categories.

At 37 years old, the Paris Olympics is likely to be the 24-time Grand Slam champion's final shot at the gold. He is Serbia's only probable medal hopeful alongside Dusan Lajovic at Roland Garros.

#1 Rafael Nadal's potential final dance at Roland Garros

At Roland Garros, no player has achieved the amount of success that Rafael Nadal has. The Spaniard's trophy cabinet is filled with a staggering 14 French Open men's singles titles.

Only three men, Robin Soderling, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev, have got the better of the Spaniard at Roland Garros in the last two decades, as he boasts of a 112-4 win-loss record at the French Open.

All of it, however, is likely to reach a conclusion as Nadal, aged 38, gears up for the Paris Olympics, potentially his final dance at Roland Garros, as his professional career is uncertain to extend beyond 2024.

Hence, he will want to give his all at the Games beginning on Friday, July 26. He already has two gold medals at the Olympics under his belt. He won the singles event in Beijing (2008) by downing Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in the final. He doubled his medal tally by earning Spain a doubles gold in Rio (2016) with Marc Lopez.

This year, Nadal enters the singles contention in the exciting company of Carlos Alcaraz, Pedro Martinez, and Jaume Munar. Also, the star of the hour Alcaraz has joined him for a shot at the doubles glory.

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Edited by Prathik BR