Tokyo bids adieu to Paralympics with message of change
After the lowering of the Paralympic flag, the baton was handed over to Paris for the 2024 Games
Despite a number of pull-outs, the women’s tennis event at the Tokyo Olympics wears a healthy look with the final entry list having 15 of the WTA top-20 confirming their entries for the quadrennial showpiece.
The WTA confirmed on Tuesday that the “The ITF (International Tennis Federation) has published the final entry list. The final entry list has 15 of the WTA Top 20 confirmed for Tokyo, including World No.1 and Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty and world No.2 and Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka. The field also features the top nine players on the Porsche Race to Shenzhen.”
Amongst the top-20, only the United States’ Sofia Kenin and Serena Williams, Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, Romania’s Simona Halep, and Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka have opted out.
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The women’s singles event will be a 64-player draw while the women’s doubles event will be a 32-team draw and the mixed doubles will be a 16-team draw. Players would be entitled to enter all three events if they qualify. The mixed doubles teams will be determined once the players reach the venue.
The WTA announced that “no WTA ranking points will be offered”. The last time points were offered at the Olympics was the 2012 London Olympics.
Between the men’s and women’s fields, a total of 46 nations will be represented at the Olympic tennis event which will commence on July 24.
According to the ITF’s Olympic qualification system, entries were based on the WTA rankings on June 14, the Monday after the French Open final.
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