The Olympics is one of tennis’ most prestigious and elusive events, coming around once every four years, thus making it so hard for most players to win.
It is a testament to its toughness that both Roger Federer and currently Novak Djokovic are set to have finished their careers having never won the singles gold medal, despite both coming excruciatingly close on a few occasions.
Instead, it has been Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev who have enjoyed the singles success since 2008, but there is a whole host of new faces who will be hoping to add their name to that list.
Djokovic headlines those with a point to prove at the Olympics, but his chances have certainly been bolstered by recent events.
Unfortunately, both on the men’s and the women’s side, there are also plenty who will not get the chance to challenge due to actual injuries, or general concern for their welfare due to the shift in surface.
Wimbledon heroes set to miss the Olympics
Two of the most high-profile absences from this year’s Olympic Games are actually both Wimbledon finalists, with Ons Jabeur having lost to Marketa Vondrousova in the 2022 final in painful fashion.
Both are thus regarded as heroes of the event, the former due to her feel-good factor and having lost in back-to-back finals, and the latter due to her title win.
That is, despite John McEnroe fuming at Vondrousova for her pre-Wimbledon conduct before suffering a first-round exit this year.
The Czech did win a silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Games, but posted just recently that injury would prevent her from trying to go a step further.
Jabeur instead made the decision to snub a trip to Paris due to the injury risks.
Emma Raducanu and Paula Badosa snub the Olympics
Another two who have chosen to miss the Olympics rather than being forced out are Emma Raducanu and Paula Badosa.
Two fine clay court players, the former has already come under some scrutiny in recent months for what she did in SW19.
After all, Raducanu pulled out of her mixed doubles with Andy Murray, effectively retiring the legendary Scotsman from Wimbledon.
However, this Olympics decision is one that makes more sense, especially given the injury woes she has faced across the last 12 months.
Badosa is in a similar position, and would benefit from avoiding the surface change ahead of the hard-court US Open leg of the tour.
Wimbledon injuries rule out Aryna Sabalenka and Hubert Hurkacz
The final two stars were actually both definitely ruled out during Wimbledon, with one pulling out even before the prestigious tournament began.
Aryna Sabalenka was widely regarded as one of the favourites at this year’s paramount grass-court tournament, given the lack of outstanding candidates elsewhere to challenge her powerful play style.
However, despite training on centre court with Jabeur, the Belarusian cited a unique injury as the reason why she would miss Wimbledon, and now the Olympics.
Meanwhile, Hubert Hurkacz instead saw his injury occur mid-way through his run in SW19, forced to retire during his fourth-set tiebreak with Arthur Fils.
Although the Frenchman boasted a match point, the Polish star felt he could not continue, having injured himself diving for a shot just moments earlier.
He has since ruled himself out of contention at the Olympics too.
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