LAST night the 2024 Paris Olympics took place and there was no shortage of talking points coming out of the draw. Here is some of those talking points from the men’s and women’s singles.

MEN’S SINGLES:

Novak vs Rafa one last time?

Speculation pre-draw was whether or not the two most successful Grand Slam winners of all-time could face off at some stage early in the draw, and fans got their wish. Rafael Nadal – now ranked 161st – will need to get past Hungarian Marton Fucsovics on the court that made Nadal so successful, while top seed and world number two Novak Djokovic has a significantly easier task, up against Aussie doubles player – unranked in singles – Matthew Ebden to reach the next stage.

Murray withdraws at the death

The 2024 Paris Olympics draws were thrown into chaos late when Andy Murray – entering what would be his last singles tournament – decided to withdraw just moments from the 7pm deadline. It pushed the fixturing back 30 mins, as doubles players Ebden, Robin Haase and Andrea Vavassori were included for the Brit, as well as seeds Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune who withdrew within the last 24 hours.

Zverev cops duo in tough draw

Following on from Djokovic and Murray landing in the same section of the draw, also in the same half is reigning gold medallist, Alexander Zverev. The German will have a tough run to try and defend the title, though neither the silver or bronze medallists from Tokyo are in Paris. Zverev will also be the number one seed in mixed doubles, teaming up with Laura Siegemund. Incredibly he could face Tomas Machac in round two of the singles, an opponent he takes on in the mixed doubles.

Demon-Alcaraz quarter final on the cards

Australia’s top medal hope in the singles – Alex de Minaur – is on track to play tournament favourite and world number three, Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter finals. The Aussie faces fast-serving Jan-Lennard Struff while still under an injury cloud after pulling out from Wimbledon, with Tommy Paul the other main threat in his eighth of the draw before a likely date with Alcaraz.

WOMEN’S SINGLES:

Rybakina falls ill, pulls out post-draw

Top medal chance and Grand Slam winner Elena Rybakina withdrew from the Paris Olympics only hours ago, already forcing a change in draw for organisers. World number 25 Caroline Garcia replaced the third seed who declared illness as a reason for her withdrawal, while Rybakina’s omission opened the door for Australian Daria Saville to come in and match up against seventh seed Qinwen Zheng.

Swiatek’s stiff draw

While her draw was made easier by the withdrawal of Rybakina, world number one and tournament favourite Iga Swiatek will not have it all her own way on the French clay. Her first couple of rounds should be fine, but a third round date with either in-form teenage duo Diana Shnaider or Linda Noskova followed by a quarter final against either Jelena Ostapenko or Danielle Collins is as tough as it gets for the top seed.

Svitolina aims for better than bronze

In the absence of Tokyo gold and silver medallists Belinda Bencic (maternity leave) and Marketa Vondrousova (hand injury), Elina Svitolina is the highest placed player from last Olympics. Winning the bronze medal, Svitolina enters Paris against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, then steps up a notch with Jessica Pegula, Barbora Krejcikova and Jasmine Paolini as her next three most likely opponents. Ouch.

American dominance

The United States enter the draw as the only country to have four seeds, and due to the Olympic rules of not placing compatriots in the same quarter – each country has a maximum of four players – it has helped the nation spread out. Second seed Coco Gauff is in the bottom quarter, sixth seed Pegula is in the third quarter, ninth seed Collins is in the top quarter, and 15th seed Emma Navarro lands in the second quarter.