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In a major update, world number 1 Novak Djokovic and 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer have both been named in their respective squads for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics on Thursday. This comes as a boost to the tennis event in the Olympics which was hit by the withdrawals of several high profile players.
Meanwhile, women’s world number one Ash Barty and Japan’s Naomi Osaka playing in her home country would highlight the women’s singles event at the Olympics. It should be noted that a first-time gold medal winner is assured in the women’s singles category since Puerto Rico's defending champion Monica Puig withdrew owing to an injury.
As far as the men’s competition is concerned, two-time champion Andy Murray, whose ranking has dipped to 118 as he returns from a hip injury, will aim to go for gold for the third back to back Olympics.
However, both Djokovic and Federer are yet to win a singles gold medal at the quadrennial event even though the Serb had won a singles bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where Federer won doubles gold.
It is worth highlighting that several big names will not be travelling to Tokyo including former singles and doubles gold medalist Spain’s Rafael Nadal, four-time gold-medal winner USA’s Serena Williams, US Open champion Dominic Thiem and Romanian two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep.