National hopes rest with Tokyo-bound tennis stars focused on Olympic glory

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LONDON, July 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The final entry list for the Olympic Tennis Event has now been published as top players from around the world begin to arrive in Japan to compete for their nations at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Players representing 46 countries will compete for Olympic glory as the competition gets underway on Saturday 24 July at the Ariake Tennis Park. Seven of those players – Petra Kvitova, Elena Vesnina, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Rajeev Ram and Novak Djokovic – will all be hoping to repeat or build-on past success as medallists at previous Olympic Games.

There are also a number of Olympic debutants who will be eyeing a place on the podium at first time of asking, with players including Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka amongst those competing at their first games. The highly competitive field includes the current top ten women and seven of the top ten men in the 2021 season standings.

As a key member of their 2010 Davis Cup winning team, Djokovic is no stranger to success on the world stage for Serbia, and he will be aiming to improve on his Beijing 2008 bronze by adding a fourth gold to his nation's all-time tally across all sports. Djokovic said: "I am very proud to pack for Tokyo and join our national team in the fight for the shiniest medals on the Olympic stage. For me, playing for Serbia has always been a special joy and motivation and I will do my best to make us all happy!"

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, meanwhile, will be hoping to make a mark at her first Games. She shared her feelings of excitement and pride with itftennis.com: "I think representing your country is the highest honour. You're playing for something bigger than yourself; you're playing to make people proud, and that's not just with the results, that's with the attitude."

The list was finalised following the 16 July deadline for final reallocations – replacements for withdrawals from the singles and doubles entries will now come from those already on the list.

David Haggerty, ITF President, said: "These players know the unique and special experience of representing their country at the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup and other Olympic qualification events, and we are very fortunate that despite the challenges of the past 18 months, we are now here in Tokyo for the Olympic Games. We wish everyone competing good luck and hope their experience in Tokyo creates lifelong memories."

Draws will be made on Thursday 22 July and published on the ITF website. Entries for the 16-pair Olympic mixed-doubles event will be determined on site on 27 July.

Further information about the qualification process can be found here. The final entry list can be found here.

SOURCE International Tennis Federation

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https://www.itftennis.com