This Friday the city of Paris will dress up for the opening of the Olympic Games. The Seine River will be the scene of a ceremony attended by the best athletes on the planet.
Well, not all. Carlos Alcaraz announced at noon that he will miss that important moment. The reason? rest before the hectic start of the competition that is just around the corner.
“I’m excited to go to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games today, but Tomorrow I have two games and it is advisable to rest and be ready! It’s about to begin!“he wrote on his Twitter account.
Carlos Alcaraz In his first match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, he will face one of the a priori most affordable rivals he has faced as a professional, Hady Habib.and only three times, in the four years since his debut on the ATP circuit, has he faced an opponent ranked lower than the Lebanese, who is number 275 in the world.
The match is scheduled for this Saturday at two o’clock in the afternoon at the Suzanne-Lenglen court., the second most important stadium at Roland Garros. Then, around seven in the afternoon, Alcaraz and Mallorcan Rafa Nadal will play doubles against Argentines Máximo González and Andrés Molteni.
The absence of Jannik Sinner makes Alcaraz a huge favorite to take the title in the French capital because, in addition, he came in great form and won the titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
To begin with, the one from El Palmar will face a 25-year-old player who is ranked 275th in the world. Habib’s highest was position 259, which he reached at the end of last May.
The one from Lebanon, although born in the United States, specifically in Houston, with whom he will meet for the first time, has only played Challenger and ITF tournaments so far and his only appearance on an ATP Tour started at the preliminary stage of the ATP 500 in Dubai in 2022, where he fell for the first time against the Czech Jiri Vesely by 1-6, 7-5 and 3-6.
In the expected event that Alcaraz defeats Habib, they will meet in the second round of the Olympic tournament to the winner of the duel between the British Cameron Norrie and the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor.
Other possible contenders before the hypothetical final are Australian Alex de Minaur, American Tommy Paul, Russian Daniil Medvedev and Norwegian Casper Ruud. In the final the opponent will be Djokovic, the German Alexander Zverev or Nadal, among others.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
