The seedings for the 2024 Paris Olympics doubles tournaments have been released, and they may surprise some fans.
Jannik Sinner is the World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour, and while he often finds himself as the top seed in the singles tournaments, it doesn't happen too often to him in doubles, or more precisely, almost never. However, that will change at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 22-year-old Italian is ranked 344th in doubles, but the Olympic tournament will be using a different system, and that's combining either the highest singles or doubles ranking of a player, which greatly benefits the young Italian player and his teammate, Lorenzo Musetti, ranked 17th in the world, who will be the top seeds in Paris. Still, Sinner has been struggling with health issues recently, which put his participation in doubt.
What's even better for Italy is that the second-seeded team will be also theirs, as doubles specialists Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli had high-enough combined ranking to qualify for this spot, meaning that Italy could play an all-Italian final match, dividing gold and silver between them.
Almost all remaining seeded pairs are doubles specialists, except for the fourth-seeded team, which consists of singles players Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul from the United States, who have decided to team up also for the doubles tournament.
The third-seeded team is the team of Germany's Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, No. 5 seeds are Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek from the United States, and Great Britain's Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski are sixth seeds. Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez from Argentina are seeded seventh, and Croatia's doubles specialists Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic are eighth seeds.
In the women's competition, many more singles players made it into the seedings in doubles, but also because many more singles players regularly play doubles tournaments, or many of high-ranked singles players teamed up with a high-ranked doubles player, which hasn't been the case so much among men.
The top-seeded team will be USA's Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, who both play singles and doubles regularly, and the same applies to the second-seeded team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova from the Czech Republic.
The third-seeded team is also a team of players who compete in both singles and doubles often, as Italy's Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini will team up, and fourth-seeded team will see a mix of singles and doubles player, as Danielle Collins will play with Desirae Krawczyk for the United States.
Canada's Leylah Fernandez will play with doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski as the fifth seed, and Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia will team up with country's doubles specialist Luisa Stefani as No. 6 seeds.
Ukraine will send two singles players into the doubles tournament, which ensured them seeding thanks to their ranking, as Marta Kostyuk and Dayana Yastremska will be seeded seventh. The eighth-seeded team will be Spain's with Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Seedings for the men's and women's doubles competitions at the Olympic tennis tournament can be viewed below.
| Seed | Players |
|---|---|
| 1. | Jannik Sinner / Lorenzo Musetti (Italy) |
| 2. | Andrea Vavassori / Simone Bolelli (Italy) |
| 3. | Kevin Krawietz / Tim Puetz (Germany) |
| 4. | Taylor Fritz / Tommy Paul (USA) |
| 5. | Rajeev Ram / Austin Krajicek (USA) |
| 6. | Joe Salisbury / Neal Skupski (Great Britain) |
| 7. | Andres Molteni / Maximo Gonzalez (Argentina) |
| 8. | Mate Pavic / Nikola Mektic (Croatia) |
| Seed | Players |
|---|---|
| 1. | Coco Gauff / Jessica Pegula (USA) |
| 2. | Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova (Czechia) |
| 3. | Sara Errani / Jasmine Paolini (Italy) |
| 4. | Danielle Collins / Desirae Krawczyk (USA) |
| 5. | Gabriela Dabrowski / Leylah Fernandez (Canada) |
| 6. | Beatriz Haddad Maia / Luisa Stefani (Brazil) |
| 7. | Marta Kostyuk / Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine) |
| 8. | Cristina Bucsa / Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain) |