By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
There are many uncertainties in pro tennis in the global coronavirus pandemic crisis. Will Wimbledon take place? Will Roland Garros and the Laver Cup be played at the same time? There is also the case with regard to the Olympic Games in Japan this summer, which may or may not take place, depending on the status of the crisis. The ATP and WTA Tour have announced that both tours will be suspended until at least June 8 and that the rankings would be frozen until then. Monday June 8 is also a “magic date” as that is the ranking deadline used for selection to the 2020 Olympic Games. There has not been an announcement as of yet if, with the tour suspensions, whether these rankings will still be used for entry purposes for the Olympics, but if they are, then, presented below, is a rough look at what the direct entries may very well look like.
According to the ITF rules for selection to the tennis event at the Olympics – as seen here: https://cdn.dosb.de/user_upload/Olympische_Spiele/Tokio_2020/internationale_Qualifikationskriterien/ITF_-_Tennis_20190218.pdf – dictate that one nation may only field no more than four singles players and there are 56 direct entries in the singles event, so if a player is the No. 5 player in their nation, but within the top 56 direct entries, they would not be on their nation’s team. In the list below, we have taken out No. 3 ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria and No. 45 Sam Querrey of the USA, both of whom have said publicly that they are not going to play in the 2020 Games. Also, to clarify, the ITF may deem or rule that a player may not have met their obligations to qualify for the Games by not fulfilling duties in Fed Cup and Davis Cup as outlined here: https://www.itftennis.com/media/2618/eligibility-rule.pdf
The final eight singles spots in the 64-player draw are ITF places, either earned through Continental Events such as the Asian Games or the Pan American Games or “wild cards.” With those qualifiers, here is a presumptive look at the 56 direct entries in the 2020 Olympics Games, if the June 8, 2020 rankings are indeed used for Olympic selection for the 2020 Games.
MEN
SERBIA
Novak Djokovic
Dusan Lajovic
Filip Krajinovic
Miomir Kecmanovic
SPAIN
Rafael Nadal
Roberto Bautista-Agut
Pablo Carreno-Busta
Albert Vinolas-Ramos
SWITZERLAND
Roger Federer
Stan Wawrinka
RUSSIA
Daniil Medvedev
Andrey Rublev
Karen Khachanov
GREECE
Stefanos Tsitsipas
GERMANY
Alexander Zverev
Jan-Lennard Struff
ITALY
Matteo Berrettini
Fabio Fognini
Lorenzo Sonego
FRANCE
Gael Monfils
Benoit Paire
Adriano Mannarino
Ugo Humbert
BELGIUM
David Goffin
ARGENTINA
Diego Schwartzmann
Guido Pella
Juan Londero
CANADA
Denis Shapovalov
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Milos Raonic
CHILE
Cristian Garin
BULGARIA
Grigor Dimitrov
UNITED STATES
John Isner
Taylor Fritz
Reilly Opelka
Tennys Sandgren
AUSTRALIA
Alex DeMinaur
Nick Kyrgios
John Millman
Jordan Thompson
GEORGIA
Nikoloz Basilashvili
GREAT BRITAIN
Daniel Evans
Kyle Edmund
POLAND
Hubert Hurkacz
JAPAN
Kei Nishikori
Yosihito Nishioka
CROATIA
Borna Coric
Marin Cilic
NORWAY
Casper Ruud
KAZAKHSTAN
Alexander Bublik
URUGUAY
Pablo Cuevas
SLOVENIA
Aljaz Bedene
CZECH REPUBLIC
Jiri Vesely
PORTUGAL
Joao Sousa
MOLDOVA
Radu Albot
SWEDEN
Mikael Ymer
The last direct entry in men’s singles is Mikael Ymer of Sweden at No. 68. Egor Gerasimov of Belarus at No. 69 is the first player out followed by Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea at No. 70.
WOMEN
AUSTRALIA
Ash Barty
Ajla Tomljanovic
ROMANIA
Simona Halep
CZECH REPUBLIC
Karolina Pliskova
Petra Kvitova
Marketa Vondrousova
Karolina Muchova
UNITED STATES
Sofia Kenin
Serena Williams
Madison Keys
Alison Riske
UKRAINE
Elina Svitolina
Dayana Yastremska
CANADA
Bianca Andreescu
NETHERLANDS
Kiki Bertens
Arantxa Rus
SWITZERLAND
Belinda Bencic
Jill Teichmann
JAPAN
Naomi Osaka
BELARUS
Aryna Sabalenka
Vika Azarenka
GREAT BRITAIN
Jo Konta
Heather Watson
CROATIA
Petra Martic
Donna Vekic
SPAIN
Garbine Muguruza
Carla Suarez-Navarro
KAZAKHSTAN
Elena Rybakina
Yulia Putintseva
Zarina Diyas
GREECE
Maria Sakkari
GERMANY
Angelique Kerber
Julia Goerges
Laura Siegemund
ESTONIA
Anett Konteveit
BELGIUM
Elise Mertens
Allison Van Uytvanck
RUSSIA
Ekaterina Alexandrova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Veronika Kudermetova
CHINA
Qiang Wang
Saisai Zheng
Shuai Zhang
POLAND
Magda Linette
Iga Swiatek
TUNISIA
Ons Jabeur
LATVIA
Jelena Ostapenko
Anastasija Sevastova
FRANCE
Kristina Mladenovic
Caroline Garcia
Fiona Ferro
Alize Cornet
SWEDEN
Rebecca Peterson
SLOVENIA
Polona Hercog
CHINESE TAIPEI
Su-Wei Hsieh
The last direct entry is Arantxa Rus at No. 70 and the first player out is No. 71 Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia.
