(Reuters) – Carlos Alcaraz will have the chance to win the Olympic tennis title at Roland Garros this year as well as the French Open crown and while he will be gunning for both the Spaniard said if forced to choose he would pick the Paris Games gold.
The Olympic tennis tournament will take place in July, a month after the year’s second Grand Slam on the same claycourts in the French capital.
“For me, it’s a dream to bring a medal to my country and winning gold is one of the greatest things that can happen to you in the world of sport,” Alcaraz told reporters in Buenos Aires, where he will defend his title this week.
“This year, if you gave me a choice, I’d say that I will keep the Olympic gold, although I would like to win both. I’m not going to lie.”
The 20-year-old won the U.S. Open in 2022 and Wimbledon last year but failed to add to his Grand Slam collection last month after going out in the Australian Open quarter-finals to Alexander Zverev, who won Olympic gold in Tokyo.
While German Zverev leads their career meetings 5-3, Alcaraz said world number one Novak Djokovic and Melbourne Park champion Jannik Sinner were top of the tree.
“I think Djokovic and Sinner are the rivals to beat, there is no doubt, both for me and for everyone,” world number two Alcaraz added.
“Zverev also has the winning head-to-head against me, he’s a rival I have very much in my mind, but I do think that Djokovic and Sinner are at the top right now.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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