Roger Federer & Novak Djokovic entered for Tokyo Olympics, Nick Kyrgios & Jannik Sinner likely to sit out
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are set to headline the men's singles field at Tokyo Olympics 2021. Both Djokovic and Federer, who are yet to win the much sought-after gold medal in singles at the Games, were named on the list of players entered for Tokyo 2021 - which is scheduled to begin on 23 July.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is going for his third Grand Slam title this year at Wimbledon, has participated in the Olympic Games on three occasions in the past. The Serb's best result came at Beijing 2008, where he beat James Blake to win the bronze medal.
The Tennis Association of Serbia confirmed last week that Novak Djokovic would be travelling to Japan. The 34-year-old is bidding to complete the elusive Career Golden Slam this year (i.e. winning all four of the Grand Slams and the Olympics gold medal in the same year), and is the favorite to win the gold medal at the international event.
Roger Federer, on the other hand, will be playing the Olympics for the fifth time in his career. The Swiss maestro, who won the silver medal in London 2012, was forced to miss the last edition of the Games (Rio 2016) due to a serious knee injury.
Although Federer hasn't won gold in the singles format yet, he did win the top prize in doubles at Beijing 2008 (partnering Stan Wawrinka).
It is pertinent to note, however, that Federer is yet to confirm whether he'll be travelling to Japan. The Swiss maestro asserted earlier this week that he'd be focussing on Wimbledon for now, and many believe he could forego his participation at Tokyo if he goes deep in London.
There is also the matter of the travel and stay restrictions in Japan. The Tokyo Olympics will not allow international visitors and fans at the venue - not even family members of the athletes - which means Federer won't be able to travel with his wife and kids. That could well be another factor in the Swiss declining to participate.
The tweet below gives the full list of players entered for the Games by their country's Olympic committee (subject to change):
Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner entered for both the Tokyo Games and the Atlanta Open
Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner will also reportedly miss Olympic action, even though they have been named by their country's Olympic committee to participate at the event in July.
The Twitter handle of the Atlanta Open, an ATP 250 tournament that has been played in the US since 2010, confirmed earlier this week that Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner would be heading the field this year.
A fan even asked in the comments why Kyrgios is entered for both the Tokyo Olympics and the ATP 250 event in Atlanta, considering the two tournaments will be played in the same week. In response, the Atlanta Open claimed that the Aussie would not be traveling to Japan.
Five-time Atlanta Open winner John Isner and World No. 21 Grigor Dimitrov, as well as Americans Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and Sebastian Korda, are entered for the ATP 250 event too. The Atlanta Open will be one of the tournaments in the lead-up to the 2021 US Open.