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Olympic tennis draws reveal paths for Nadal-Djokovic meeting, Gauff-Pegula semifinal

American Coco Gauff practices before the start of the Paris Olympics on Thursday at Roland Garros in Paris. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
1 of 5 | American Coco Gauff practices before the start of the Paris Olympics on Thursday at Roland Garros in Paris. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo

July 25 (UPI) -- Novak Djokovic could meet Rafael Nadal in the second round, while Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula eye a potential path to a semifinal matchup, according to Thursday's draws for the Paris Olympics singles tennis tournaments.

The Olympic tennis tournaments will be held from Saturday to Aug. 4 on the clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris. Full draws for the singles and doubles tournaments can be found here.

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Early-round matches will stream on NBC's digital platforms, while later rounds will air on USA Network, E!, CNBC and Universo.

With world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy withdrawing Wednesday, Djokovic took over as the top seed in the men's singles circuit. The No. 2-ranked Serbian will face Matthew Ebden of Australia in the first round.

The winner of that match will take on No. 83 Marton Fucsovics of Hungary or Nadal (No. 161) in the second round.

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Nadal, who is likely playing in his final Olympics, has a 29-30 career record against Djokovic. The Spaniard, known as the "King of Clay" because of his dominance at Roland Garros, won gold at the 2008 Summer Games.

Djokovic is still searching for Olympic gold. He won bronze at Beijing 2008.

World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, the No. 2 seed, will take on No. 275 Hady Habib of Lebanon in his singles opener. He also will team up with Nadal in the doubles circuit.

No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany, the No. 3 seed, will take on No. 65 Jaume Munar of Spain in his opening match. Zverev, who won gold in Tokyo, could meet No. 11 Taylor Fritz of the United States in the quarterfinals if both players win their first three matches.

Americans Tommy Paul (No. 13), Marcos Giron (No. 38) and Christopher Eubanks (No. 105) also will aim for a gold medal in the singles circuit. Paul will face No. 33 Luciano Darderi of Italy in his opener. Giron will meet No. 19 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada. Eubanks will play No. 170 Benjamin Hassan of Lebanon.

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No. 22 Karen Khachanov of Russia and No. 802 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, who won respective silver and bronze medals in Tokyo, will not participate in the Paris Olympics men's singles tournament.

On the women's side, No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland will face No. 136 Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania in the first round. Swiatek could meet No. 9 Danielle Collins of the United States in the quarterfinals if both win their first three matches.

Collins will face No. 64 Laura Siegemund of Germany in her first match.

Gauff, who will be a Team USA flag bearer at Friday's opening ceremony, will take on No. 123 Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the first round.

Ranked No. 2 in the world, Gauff could meet No. 89 Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina or No. 59 Tatjana Maria of Germany in the second round. She could face No. 8 Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals, if both players advance that far in the women's singles tournament.

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Pegula, ranked No.6, is among the players Gauff could meet in the semifinals. Pegula will face No. 79 Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland in the first round.

No. 137 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and No. 18 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who won respective gold and silver medals in Tokyo, will not compete in the tournament.

No. 31 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who earned bronze at the 2020 Summer Games, will meet No. 66 Moyuka Uchijima of Japan in her Paris opener.

No. 15 Emma Navarro, another American in the women's singles circuit, will start singles play against No. 312 Julia Grabher of Austria.

The order of play for the tennis tournaments will be announced Friday.

Paris to host 2024 Olympic Games

Gold Medalist Katie Ledecky of Team USA swims laps during training at La Defense Arena in Paris on July 25, 2024. The opening ceremony will take place July 26. Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

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