The latest news from the Paris Olympics

Djokovic and Nadal on the collision course

(South Dakota) In the Olympic tennis event, top seeds Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal could meet in the second round. In the first round, the Serbian Djokovic (ATP 2) will face the 36-year-old Australian doubles specialist Matthew Ebden, who leads the world rankings in doubles this year but no longer has a singles ranking. The Spanish player Nadal (ATP 161), who was a finalist in Bastad last week, will face the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (ATP 83) at the start of the tournament.

Stan Wawrinka will face Russian Pawel Kotow in the first round. Wawrinka and Kotow met in the Roland Garros Grand Slam in the spring. Kotow won 7:6, 6:4, 1:6, 7:6. If Wawrinka beats Kotow, his next opponent could be 16th seed Chilean Nicolas Jarry and then Olympic champion Alexander Zverev.

Six top-10 players will start the Olympic tennis tournament: Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz (ATP 3), title winner Alexander Zverev (ATP 4), Daniil Medvedev (ATP 5), Alex de Minaur (ATP 6) and Kasper Ruud (ATP 8).

The women’s field is stronger, with all of the top 10 players in the tournament except Maria Sakkari of Greece. The only Swiss woman, Viktorija Golubic, will meet world number five Jessica Pegula at the start of the tournament.

Nina Christen and Nino Schurter hold the Swiss flag at the opening ceremony

(South Dakota) Shooter Nina Christen and mountain biker Nino Schurter will carry the Swiss flag at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Friday evening.

The performance of Swiss team leader Ralph Stöckli on Thursday was not surprising. Nino Schurter, 38, from Graubünden, already has a full set of medals at the Olympics, including gold in Rio 2016. Three years ago, Nina Christen, 30, from Unterwalden, won gold and bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

Schulte is the second mountain biker allowed to carry the Swiss flag after Thomas Frischknecht in Sydney in 2000. The previous rider was August Hollenstein in Rome in 1960.

Friday night’s opening ceremony in Paris is the premiere. For the first time, it will not be held in a stadium but on the river. Starting at 7:30 p.m., athletes will take 160 boats on a 6-kilometer route on the Seine. This means hundreds of thousands of spectators will be able to watch the event live.

But this also requires a huge security system, large-scale city closures and traffic restrictions.

Kerber to retire after Olympics

(dpa) Angelique Kerber will end her successful tennis career after the Paris Olympics. The three-time Grand Slam champion announced the decision via Instagram ahead of the start of the Summer Olympics.

“Before the Olympics start, I can say that I will never forget Paris 2024 because it will be my last professional tournament as a tennis player,” the 36-year-old wrote. “While this may actually be the right decision, it will never feel that way. Simply because I love this sport with all my heart and am grateful for the memories and opportunities it has given me.”

After returning from becoming a mother for the first time 17 months ago, Kerber was unable to build on the huge sporting achievements she achieved at the peak of her career. She won the Australian Open and US Open in 2016, becoming the first German world number one after Steffi Graf. Two years later, he won the Wimbledon grass-court championships. She also won an Olympic silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The Kiel native is the most successful German tennis player after Steffi Graf.