Osaka, Nishikori to compete at Paris 2024
Naomi Osaka, Kei Nishikori and Moyuka Uchijima will represent Japan in singles at the Paris 2024 Olympic Tennis Event, the Japanese Tennis Association has announced.
Osaka, who lit the Olympic Cauldron to herald the start of Tokyo 2020 on her Olympic debut three years ago, will feature at her second Games next month by virtue of a WTA special ranking of 46.
The 26-year-old is continuing to step up her comeback from maternity leave and will have high hopes of making a mark at Paris 2024 after a stunning display on her recent visit to Roland Garros – where she came within a whisker of beating eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
View this post on Instagram
Osaka will be joined in the women’s singles draw (which kicks off on 27 July) by Uchijima, who has qualified for her first Olympics on the back of an incredible season on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
Uchijima, 22, began the year outside the world’s top 170 but has gone on to win five ITF singles titles in six months - including three at W100 level – to rocket into the world’s top 80.
Uchijima also came through qualifying at Roland Garros last month and went on to record her first Grand Slam match-win, before impressing during a second round encounter with world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
View this post on Instagram
Nishikori, meanwhile, will be Japan’s sole representative in the men’s singles event as he prepares to take part in his fifth Olympic Games. Nishikori won a singles bronze medal at Rio 2016, defeating Rafael Nadal in a three-set third-place play-off, for one of the standout triumphs of his career.
The 34-year-old enters the Games using a protected ranking of No. 48. He has slipped down the rankings following both hip surgery and an ankle injury in 2022 that delayed his comeback and saw him play just four tournaments in 2023.
The ITF will announce the full entry list for Paris 2024 here on 4 July