Jasmine Paolini, runner-up at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, wins Olympic gold in women's doubles; Sara Errani completes Golden Slam

Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic dropped just one game en route to victory, as the tennis competition at the 2024 Paris Games kicked off on a rainy Saturday.

ByTENNIS.com

Published Jul 27, 2024

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Amid a rainy Saturday in Paris, the 2024 Olympic Games kicked off in earnest with Roland Garros champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek extending their respective winning streaks at the historic venue.

Poland’s Swiatek came into the tournament with a 21-match win streak at the historic Stade Roland-Garros—the first Olympic tennis venue to feature clay courts since the 1992 Barcelona Games. Four of Swiatek's five majors have come on the terre battue, with the 23-year-old clinching her third singles title in a row back in May.

Despite the new 2024 Paris branding and five-ring Olympic symbol splashed across Court Philippe Chatrier this week, the result on Saturday looked quite familiar.

Up against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania, Swiatek comfortably charged to a 6-2, 7-5 victory to move into the second round. The WTA world No. 1 awaits the winner of Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska and France’s Diane Parry.

Back on the clay! Happy about my first victory in Paris and the 2024 Olympics! Looking forward to the next round and my first doubles match! Forzaaaaaa Italia! 🇮🇹🎾

📸 'ITF images via Dubreuil/Kopatsch/Zimmer' pic.twitter.com/xfu03NQwnk
— Jasmine Paolini (@JasminePaolini) July 27, 2024

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Swiatek’s opponent in the French Open final, Jasmine Paolini of Italy, was also a winner on opening day as play progressed under the closed roof on Chatrier, edging past Romania’s Ana Bogdan 7-5, 6-3.

Paolini awaits the winner of Mirra Andreeva, an Individual Neutral Athlete, and Magda Linette of Poland. Both players won WTA titles over the weekend, with Andreeva capturing her career’s first in Iasi, and Linette winning her third in Prague—and famously needing to crowdsource some help getting to Paris straight afterward.

French Open champion Alcaraz moved into the second round of the Olympics with a victory over Lebanon's Habib at Roland Garros.

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Later in the day, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic got his Olympic campaign started with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Matthew Ebden on Chatrier. He will face either Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics or Spain’s Rafael Nadal, in a potential popcorn second-round clash.

A rain-logged Day 1 of the Olympic tennis competition has already seen extensive delays and no play on the outer courts.

Under the roof of Court Suzanne Lenglen, the venue’s other covered court, Spain’s Alcaraz extended his own winning streak on Saturday. The No. 2 seed and reigning Roland Garros champion had little trouble dispatching Lebanon's Hady Habib 6-3, 6-1 and adding to his seven-match win tally.

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