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The day is finally here – the day Mayar Sherif becomes “Maiar Sherif Ahmed Abdelaziz” in the ITF universe and the Olympic draws are made.

The event had a number of medallists in the Club des Loges at Roland Garros Thursday morning: Murray, Wawrinka, Nadal, Svitolina and Kerber.

The media couldn’t talk to them, of course; they were each to “answer a question from the event MC” while they were there as ITF president David (Slick) Haggerty took questions after the draw.

(We’re remembering this moment from Rio. It was … fruitful. By that we mean “not particularly fruitful”).

You can find the draws online right here.

The Women’s Singles

Click here for a pdf version of the draw

The ITF rules (they do this for juniors as well) about not drawing players from the same country in the same quarters (if there are four) or halfs (if there are two) mean that there’s some shuffling around.

But ultimately, Canadian Bianca Andreescu drew Clara Tauson of Denmark in the bottom half, and No. 16 Leylah Fernandez had the unfortunate bad luck of getting unseeded Karolina Muchova in the top half.

Muchova, of course, was a Roland Garros finalist the last time she was in Paris. And a top-10 player before she missed 10 months due to injury before returning on the grass.

Andreescu’s path, should she win her opener, could go through No. 13 Donna Vekic in the second round and No. 2 Coco Gauff in the third round.

Other first-rounders to watch:

– [8] Danielle Collins v Laura Siegemund (could be dramatic)
– Naomi Osaka v Angelique Kerber
– [6] Zheng Qinwen v home girl Caroline Garcia
– [12] Marta Kostyuk v Yulia Putintseva (also could be dramatic)

If the seeds win out, the third round would look like this:

[1] Iga Swiatek v [15] Diana Shnaider
[10] Jelena Ostapenko vs [8] Danielle Collins
[3] Elena Rybakina vs [16] Fernandez (or Muchova)
[11] Emma Navarro vs [6] Zheng Qinwen

[5] Jessica Pegula vs [9] Barbora Krejcikova
[14] Beatriz Haddad Maia vs [4] Jasmine Paolini
[7] Maria Sakkari vs [12] Marta Kostyuk
[13] Donna Vekic vs [2] Coco Gauff

That means Swiatek v Collins, Rybakina v Zheng, Pegula v Paolini and Sakkari v Gauff would be the quarterfinals

The Men’s Singles

Unlke the women, who stayed steadfast in their intention to play the Games, the men were dropping like flies in the week before the event.

And not just rank and file players – big-name players

Here are the withdrawees, and their replacements.

Jannik Sinner out of the Olympics, Murray next?

Hubert Hurkacz (Hady Habib in singles, partner Jan Zielinski out of luck in doubles)
Jannik Sinner (Andrea Vavassori in singles, Luciano Darderi in doubles)
Holger Rune (… Matthew Ebden)
Andy Murray (… no one so far; a blank next to Sebastian Ofner’s name)

Milos Raonic, despite not looking that spry in practice earlier in the week, is in and drew Dominik Koepfer of Germany in the first round. If he gets through that he could get No. 14 seed Arthur Fils.

Félix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 13 seed, gets American Marcos Giron (who just last week won his first ATP Tour event. In Newport. On grass).

And the draw gods were brutal in Paris, once again. As Novak Djokovic – elevated to the No 1 seed with Sinner’s withdrawal – could play Rafael Nadal.

In the second round. Yep.

Cana-Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (yes, we’re claiming him) is the No. 15 seed, and drew Roman Safiullin of (that country that must not be named) in the first round. He could get Carlos Alcaraz in the third round in Paris. Which is something he’s experienced before.

First-rounders to watch:

– [1] Novak Djokovic vs … Matthew Ebden (no offence to Ebden, but …)
– Rafael Nadal v Marton Fucsovics
– [14] Arthur Fils v Matteo Arnaldi
– Tomas Machac v Zhizhen Zhang (doubles partners by day on the ATP Tour)
– Stan Wawrinka v Pavel Kotov
– [11] Lorenzo Musetti v Gaël Monfils
– Jack Draper v Kei Nishikori
– [7] Taylor Fritz v Alexander Bublik

So, quite a few. Actually, almost all the first-rounders look pretty good. With perhaps the exception of Novak Djokovic v … Matt Ebden.

If the seeds win out, the third round would look like this:

[1] Novak Djokovic vs [14] Arthur Fils
[12] Sebastian Baez vs [8] Stefanos Tsitsipas
[3] Alexander Zverev vs [16] Nicolas Jarry
[11] Lorenzo Musetti vs [7] Taylor Fritz

[6] Casper Ruud vs [10] Ugo Humbert
[13] Félix Auger-Aliassime vs [4] Daniil Medvedev
[5] Alex de Minaur vs [9] Tommy Paul
[15] Alejandro Tabilo vs [2] Carlos Alcaraz

That means Djokovic vs Tsitsipas, Zverev vs Fritz, Ruud vs Medvedev and De Minaur vs Alcaraz would be the quarterfinals.

Ebden, a 36-year-old Aussie who is ranked No. 3 in the world in doubles (he was at No. 1 ealier in the year), was a good singles player in his time. He reached a career high of No. 39 and it wasn’t SO long ago – back in Oct. 2018.

He last played singles in the qualifying of Winston-Salem in Aug. 2022. And he last won a main-draw singles match back in June, 2021 when he defeated Brit Ryan Peniston in the first round of Nottingham.

He’s in the men’s doubles and the mixed and certainly is a medal hope in both. At least he’ll get a nice Philippe-Chatrier experience and a warmup against Djokovic to kick things off.

Having run out of singles players to plug in after Darderi and Andrea Vavassori, they must have started at the top of the doubles ranking and worked their way down for more alternates.

The No. 1 Marcel Granollers, is restricted by the country limits. His co-No. 1, Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, took a pass on Paris.

Ebden was next.

After that? 44-year-old Rohan Bopanna and 40-year-old Rajeev Ram (restricted by country limits). Joe Salisbury, with a career high of No. 559 in singles back in 2015, is after that. He has never played an ATP Tour main draw match in singles.

In the end, the settled upon former top-35 player Robin Haase, who didn’t have a ranking on the day of the June 10 entry deadline. But after getting a wild card into the qualifying at his home-country event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last month and beating his fellow Dutch doubles specialist Wesley Koolhof in the first round, he currently sits at No. 1196. It was his first singles match in nearly a year.

Good enough.

The Women’s Doubles

For the women’s doubles draw, click here.

There are some tough draws for some very good doubles players in the women’s event.

Cana-Kiwi Erin Routliffe and partner Lulu Sun, unseeded, get the Roland Garros finalists Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani.

Another top-10 doubles player, Aussie Ellen Perez (with Daria Saville) drew No. 1 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.

As for Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski, the No. 5 seeds, they will play Frenchwomen Clara Burel and Varvara Gracheva in the first round.

Their quarterfinal opponents would be the Czechs, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

Maria Sakkari, who rarely plays doubles, is teaming up with Despina Papamichail and they will meet Americans Desirae Krawczyk and Danielle Collins in the first round.

The Men’s Doubles

Click here for the men’s doubles draw.

The most anticipated draw was that of super-team Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.

They will get No. 6 seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni of Argentina, with a path through to Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the quarterfinals. If they’re in it to win it, you’d think they have a shot.

Andy Murray, who withdrew from the singles, is playing with Dan Evans. They get Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel of Japan.

A tough draw for Canadians Félix Auger-Aliassime and MIlos Raonic, who get No 3 seed Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the first round.

Of the four, Auger-Aliassime has probably played the most doubles lately. And it hasn’t been that much. So if Raonic can move at all, you’d think that’s a tossup.

Cana-Chilean Alejandro Tabilo and his partner Nicolas Jarry – who will be the flag bearer for Chile in the opening ceremonies – will play the “new” team of Lorenzo Musetti and Luciano Darderi.

Darderi was added when Jannik Sinner withdrew late.

The Mixed Doubles

Click here for the full mixed doubles draw.

The easy-peasiest way to win an Olympic medal in tennis is in the mixed doubles, which only has a 16-team draw.

Two wins, and you’re playing for medal. Three, and you’re playing for gold.

The No. 1 seeds are the unlikely pairing of Alexander Zverev and Laura Siegemund, who get Czech lovebirds Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova in the first round.

Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz, seeded No. 2, get Elena Rybakina and Alexander Bublik.

And so Auger-Aliassime and Dabrowski, unseeded with just four seeds, go on a quest that starts with Brits Heather Watson and Joe Salisbury.

For previous editions of the Daily Drill, click here.

The Daily Drill – Wednesday, July 24, 2024

The Daily Drill: Olympics update edition

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