Sam Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt will captain the Australian Olympic Tennis staff on the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games, with the tennis occasions to be staged at Roland Garros.
Paris, France, 24 July 2024 | Harriet Rendle
Sam Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt captain the Australian Olympic Tennis staff on the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games this week.
5-time Olympian Stosur, the one Australian tennis participant to characterize the nation at 5 Video games, will lead the ladies’s staff alongside girls’s coach and two-time Olympian Nicole Pratt.
The 2011 US Open champion retired from skilled tennis final 12 months and was appointed Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup captain in December 2023.
“I by no means thought I’d be going to a different Olympics in any kind of capability. So, yeah, very excited to be heading to Paris and supporting all of the gamers,” mentioned Stosur, who competed at Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016, London 2012, Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004.
Stosur recalled her feelings strolling in a number of opening ceremonies and being a member of the broader Australian Olympic staff.
“Going out to a few of the opening ceremonies and strolling, via the tunnel with the better Australian staff, the vitality and, , the sound and the noise. I’m getting goosebumps speaking about it,” she mentioned.
“I feel the opening ceremonies have been completely unimaginable, to have the ability to march and be a part of, and clearly the competing and every thing else.
“I feel simply feeling like you’re part of clearly the tennis staff, which is such a small a part of the better Australian staff, it’s, , 400 athletes or one thing. It’s a very particular place to be in.”
Now as captain, Stosur can be on the sidelines to assist Australia’s girls, whereas encouraging them to get pleasure from Olympic Village life.
“Now to be on this place making an attempt to assist them via, to hopefully win medals and get essentially the most, , out of themselves and the occasion, is a superb place to be in. I feel I’ve acquired a lot of expertise to attempt to go on,” she mentioned.
“Particularly at the beginning whenever you first get there, it’s thrilling. It may be a bit chaotic. I feel typically you bought to sort of take all that in whenever you first arrive and kind of get it comfortable… Open your eyes, see every thing so you then really feel such as you’ve sort of skilled a whole lot of it after which you may kind of get all the way down to enterprise.
“The beauty of the tennis occasion is clearly someplace that each one the gamers are actually acquainted with enjoying at Roland Garros.”
Hewitt, who at age 19 made his first Olympic staff, represented Australia at three Olympics together with London 2012, Beijing 2008 and Sydney 2000.
Since 2016, the previous world No.1 and two-time Grand Slam singles champion has captained Australia’s Davis Cup staff.
Hewitt will lead the boys’s staff alongside coach Jaymon Crabb.
“First time truly going as a captain within the Olympic format,” Hewitt mentioned. “I used to be lucky sufficient to play in three Olympic Video games as properly. So I’m very honored to get this chance and clearly assist the fellows each time they placed on the inexperienced and gold.
“I used to be very lucky and I used to be in a position to get in to Sydney, clearly our house video games, my first one in 2000. I used to be lucky sufficient to share a room with Pat Rafter. He was like an older brother to me, and he was a man that I idolised and regarded as much as for therefore a few years, as an Australian tennis participant and acquired to world No.1, received Grand Slams and to be alongside him, and sort of hang around with him in the course of the Sydney Olympics was fairly particular.
“I feel one of many different actual particular ones was attending to play at Wimbledon, the All England Membership within the London Olympics Video games. That was actually one thing particular to play an Olympic Video games on a special floor as properly.”
Like Stosur, Hewitt can be encouraging the boys’s staff to embrace the Olympic expertise as a lot as doable.
“There’s lots happening… And there’s numerous distractions. So I feel whenever you first get within the village, it’s making an attempt to get pleasure from it as a lot as doable. I do know the Australian staff, as an entire, with each sport is a really close-knit staff as properly.
“Once you’re two or three days out from truly having to go on the market and play, it’s time to actually begin specializing in what you must do to get your preparation proper.
“Clearly that is fairly particular, attending to play at one other Grand Slam location in Roland Garros in Paris.”
Hewitt believes the Olympics play a very necessary function on the tennis tour.
“It’s unbelievably necessary. And I feel coming from a rustic like Australia as properly, we’re a really sporting nation. We’ve had a lot success within the Olympic Video games over so a few years, and we’re spoiled within the sport of tennis,” he mentioned.
“We get the chance to play at these unbelievable venues all year long, however particularly the 4 Grand Slams. A few of these different smaller sports activities… they get this chance to play within the Olympics as soon as in each 4 years for them. That is what they work in direction of.
“In a way, it’s a little bit totally different to tennis. However you simply see the fellows which are enjoying and the way a lot they wish to one get a medal, however clearly particularly to get the gold medal.”
