Australia’s top men’s singles tennis player Alex de Minaur will be seeded fifth at the Paris 2024 Olympics while Matthew Ebden and Ellen Perez will enter the clay courts at the Roland Garros as second seeds in mixed doubles.
The tennis seedings at the Paris 2024 Olympics were determined based on the ATP Rankings updated on Monday.
Alex de Minaur, sixth in the ATP Rankings for men’s singles, is expected to make his Olympic debut after missing out on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19.
Doubts were also cast over Alex de Minaur’s participation in Paris after he pulled out of his Wimbledon quarter-finals match against Novak Djokovic due to hip injury earlier this month.
However, Australian chef de mission Anna Meares confirmed Alex de Minaur will be present in the Olympic Village this week. The Australian tennis player was also spotted training on the Roland Garros courts on Wednesday.
“We know that he’s been working with his rehab team quite extensively since the conclusion of Wimbledon,” Meares said. “He’s hungry to be here. He wants to be a part of this team and we will offer as much support as we can in that process.”
De Minaur was initially projected to be the sixth seed in the men’s singles competition but saw his billing bumped up a spot after Italy’s Jannik Sinner, who was expected to be the top seed, pulled out due to tonsillitis.
Serbian legend Novak Djokovic will be the top seed in men’s singles at Paris 2024 and is due to face another Aussie Matthew Ebden, who entered the men’s singles pool late as a replacement for injured Danish star Holger Rune.
Recently crowned French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev (Individual Neutral Athlete) are the third, fourth and fifth seeds, respectively, in men’s singles.
First-time Olympian Matthew Ebden, the world No. 3 men’s doubles player, will partner Tokyo 2020 Olympian Ellen Perez in the mixed doubles. Perez is world No. 10 in women’s doubles rankings.
Based on the combined rankings, Ebden and Perz are seeded second behind Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Laura Siegemund at Paris 2024.
A nine-member Australian tennis team is in Paris to compete across all five medal events. However, the remaining Australian tennis players and combinations have not been seeded in the women’s singles, doubles and men’s doubles.
John Peers, who won the mixed doubles bronze with now-retired Ashleigh Barty at Tokyo 2020, will team up with Ebden in the men’s doubles. Perez will team up with Daria Saville in the women’s doubles.
Alexei Popyrin will compete in the men’s singles as well as doubles like Alex de Minaur while Rinky Hijikata will only compete in the men’s singles.
Australia’s challenge in women’s singles will be shouldered by Ajla Tomljanovic while Olivia Gadecki and Ajla Tomljanovic will be the second Australian women’s doubles pair besides Perez and Saville.
The tennis events at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be held on the iconic clay courts of the Roland Garros in Paris from July 27 to August 4.
Tennis made its Olympic debut at Athens 1896. The Australian tennis players have won a total of six Olympic medals – one gold, one silver and four bronze – to date.