- Casper Ruud has reached at last the semi-final of the last three French Opens
- Rafael Nadal has won 14 French Open singles titles at the Olympic venue
- Recommended bet: Casper Ruud to win and each-way

The Olympic men's tennis competition begins in Paris on Saturday at a familiar venue, Roland Garros, which hosted the French Open just one month ago.

Carlos Alcaraz took the title home for the first time on that occasion then followed up with a successful defence of his Wimbledon crown.

Unsurprisingly, the Spaniard is a red-hot favourite for gold after chief rival Jannik Sinner was forced to withdraw with tonsillitis.

Novak Djokovic, beaten by Alcaraz at Wimbledon, is considered the second-most likely winner of men's singles gold - the one thing missing from his glittering CV - while Alexander Zverev is also among the main contenders.

Nadal and Djokovic on a collision course

There will be no Andy Murray in singles after the Brit withdrew on Thursday morning, putting an end to his magnificent career on a singles court, although he does still intend to compete in doubles.

Rafael Nadal, however, is in the draw, and the Spanish legend, a 14-time French Open winner at this venue, is on a collision course for a blockbuster second-round clash with Djokovic in what could be his final event.

Nadal skipped Wimbledon to prepare for Paris, warming up instead with a run to the Sweden Open final in Bastad where he was beaten at odds-on by Nuno Borges.

Alcaraz the man to beat in weak bottom half

Nadal will need to find much more if he's to meet Alcaraz, who is the unquestionable title favourite particularly with Zverev, Djokovic, Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas all housed in the opposite part of the draw.

Daniil Medvedev is the fourth seed and joins Alcaraz in the bottom half but a greater threat could come from Norway's Ruud. 

Prediction

The top half of the draw looks like a punting minefield.

Djokovic is the one to beat from that section but is set for some big tests and could have to beat Nadal, Arthur Fils, Tsitsipas and Zverev just to make the final.

Preference is for an each-way bet in the bottom half of the draw where Casper Ruud can shock Alcaraz.

Ruud reached the semi-finals of the French Open last month, losing out to Zverev in four sets, and he reached the final in both 2022 and 2023.

While he made no impression at Wimbledon, that is not necessarily a negative as he will doubtless be aware that he's much more likely to win Olympic gold on a surface which he relishes.

Ruud could meet Alcaraz in the semi-finals but the Spaniard produced too big efforts to claim consecutive Slam victories and he could struggle to find top gear again, particularly with many more Olympics to come in his fledgling career.