World No 1 Iga Swiatek is set to lead a strong field at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as the top seed in the women’s singles draw.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek is the heavy favourite for gold in Paris, having claimed the last three titles at Roland Garros – the venue where the tennis competition will be held.
The Pole comes in off the back of a disappointing Wimbledon campaign, though will be hard to beat on her beloved clay, losing just once on the surface in 2024.
It will be a second Olympic appearance for the 23-year-old, who was beaten in round two by Paula Badosa at the delayed Tokyo 2020 event three years ago.
Following Swiatek in the draw is world No 2 Coco Gauff, who will be making her Olympic debut after being forced to withdraw from Tokyo after a positive COVID test.
The 20-year-old will be a leading medal contender in all three events she is contesting and has pedigree at Roland Garros, reaching the final in 2022 and the semi-final this year – losing to Swiatek on both occasions.
The biggest absentee is world No 3 Aryna Sabalenka, which means Elena Rybakina will be the third seed in her second Olympics.
Kazakh ace Rybakina just missed out on a medal in Tokyo, finishing in fourth, and will be looking to better that result at the very least this summer.
Jasmine Paolini rounds out the top four seeds, following a summer surge that saw her reach finals at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Elsewhere, three of the top eight seeds are American players, with Team USA bringing a formidable tennis squad.
Joining Gauff in the top eight is fifth seed Jessica Pegula and eighth seed Danielle Collins, with both women potential medal contenders in Paris.
US No 5 Emma Navarro – playing in the absence of Madison Keys, another notable player who is skipping the event – is the 11th seed.
Zheng Qinwen and Maria Sakkari round out the remaining seeds inside the top eight, while Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova is set to be seeded ninth.
Sabalenka is the only top-10 star currently set to miss action but plenty of others in the top 20 will not be playing, including Keys, Daria Kasatkina, Ons Jabeur, and Victoria Azarenka.
That means several players are seeded well above their ranking, starting Marta Kostyuk, who is the 12th seed, while recent Wimbledon semi-finalist Donna Vekic will be seeded 14th.
Diana Shnaider – fresh off victory in Budapest – will be 15th seed and compete as a neutral athlete, while Leylah Fernandez is the final seed as things stand.
Women’s singles seeds (as of 22 July 2024)
1) Iga Swiatek, Poland
2) Coco Gauff, United States
3) Elena Rybakina, Kazakhstan
4) Jasmine Paolini, Italy
5) Jessica Pegula, United States
6) Zheng Qinwen, China
7) Maria Sakkari, Greece
8) Danielle Collins, United States
9) Barbora Krejcikova, Czechia
10) Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia
11) Emma Navarro, United States
12) Marta Kostyuk, Ukraine
13) Donna Vekic, Croatia
14) Beatriz Haddad Maia, Brazil
15) Diana Shnaider, Authorised Neutral Athlete
16) Leylah Fernandez, Canada