Serbia’s dominance in men’s tennis
Serbia’s dominance in men’s tennis has won the previous two Olympic games, many teams, most of which are from Europe, are eager to compete, especially on the day of the gold medal. In what should be an extremely close event, the leaders are European and World Cup champion Spain, recent world champions Croatia and Hungary, and recurring podium visitors Greece. The United States of America can be the rose-colored thorn.
Men_s_ESP_vs__FRA_Bronze Meal_Match_Day16_World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 {seqn}_Medium Res Image_m72674
Serbia’s dominance in men’s tennis
Image Source: Spain’s Alvaro Granados in Doha this year/Aniko Kovacs/World Aquatics
Serbia’s dominance in men’s tennis may have won the last two Olympic https://globalhhub.com/ editions, but a host of mainly European teams is champing at the bit to have a piece of the action, especially on gold-medal day. European and World Cup champion Spain, recent world champions Croatia and Hungary and perennial podium visitor Greece lead the bunch in what should be an incredibly tight tournament. United States of America could be the thorn in the roses.
The Tournament
The withdrawal of South Africa meant Romania was elevated to the 12, making for a tougher tournament and no team can say it is in the “group of death”. Every Serbia’s dominance in men’s tennis match will be cut-throat and played like a final. There is no margin for error. There are no second chances.
From Tokyo’s line-up, Kazakhstan and South Africa have been replaced by Romania and France.
The competition is structured in two groups of six and teams need to finish in the top four to have any chance of continuing in the competition. Only the top eight will contest matches on the final three days — quarterfinals, moving to semifinals for classifications one to eight and then on the final day, the actual top-three classification finals. The fourth final — 7th & 8th — will be contested following the women’s gold-medal final on day 15 of water polo competition
Serbia’s dominance in men’s tennis
The fifth-placed teams in each group will be classified 9th-10th according to their win-loss record or goal average if a tiebreaker is required
The sixth-placed teams in each group will be classified 11th-12th according to the same criteria.
The quarterfinals are where most top teams “start” their tournament. Group winners have the advantage of playing the fourth team in the other group while second-placed teams clash with the third-best in the other group. While group Serbia’s dominance in men’s tennis winners will be expected to win through to the quarterfinals, this is not always the case and the tightness of this competition means nothing can be left to chance. The battles in the middle ground will be the fiercest of the tournament.
The Group Stage
Greece, Italy, and Croatia could be https://globalhhub.com/ considered the top three in Group A. But the United States of America, in particular, is going to challenge that ranking and maybe assist in demoting Romanian and Montenegro to the bottom two spots. But these are difficult decisions.
Serbia, Spain, and Hungary can be regarded as the best in Group B. The fierce Japanese, however, have the potential to upset the odds; Australia placed second in a qualifying tournament against Serbia, while France, playing in front of their home supporters, came fourth at the most recent World Aquatics Championships in Doha.
For some, their reputations will be destroyed, while for others, they may be setting lifetime records.
The Venues
Water polo has some of the hottest tickets in Paris and expect teams to explode into action at the Aquatics Centre for the first week. Following swimming, water polo shifts to the La Defense Arena where the spectator seating more than triples to 17,000. The last time that number was achieved was in Athens 2004 and before that in Sydney 2000 for the medal rounds at the huge SOP AC facility.
Croatia
Croatia has had a stellar year with silver at the Europeans followed by world championship gold in Doha. Those results were a huge turnaround from ninth at the Fukuoka 2023 world championships. Head Coach Ivica Tucak has been at the helm for a decade or more and this could be his year. Croatia has played three Olympic finals, winning at London 2012 under super coach Ratko Rudic and more recently, losing to Serbia in 2016. Factor in having probably the best goalkeeper in the world in Marko Bijac (above), and six other players from Tokyo. Bijac, Luka Loncar and Luka Bukic are all making their third Olympic appearances and the towering Olympic and triple world champion left-hander Maro Jokovic an incredible fifth Olympics.
Greece
Greece was the 2020 silver medallist, going https://globalhhub.com/ down 13-10 in the final to Serbia. It was Greece’s first medal in 16 appearances. Since then, Greece has maintained a top-five position at the three world championships — fifth this year, silver in 2023 and bronze in 2022. Italy was the team that upset Greece in the Doha quarterfinals, losing 11-10, before advancing to the fifth-place play-off against Serbia, winning 15-11. Leading the team is now four-time Olympian Ionians Fountains, alongside six other returnees from Tokyo, including Stylists Anthropology.
Italy
Even though Italy only has five players from Tokyo in their lineup for Paris, only the best will do for any team led by Alejandro Campaign. Similar to Greece, Italy has consistently placed among the top five at world championships: silver this year, fifth in Fukuoka in 2023, and second in the 2022 penalty shootout. Italy has won four times, therefore their seventh place finish in Tokyo was a huge letdown considering they had previously won bronze and silver. For the final of Campagna’s three Olympic gold medals, you had to travel back to 1992, during his playing career. At his second Olympics, the team will be captained by the vivacious Francesco di Fulvio, who will have the support of three-time Olympian Nicholas Presciutti and goalie Marco del Lungo. In a recent event, Italy defeated Japan, France, and Hungary.
Montenegro
Montenegro has a mix of new and old with https://globalhhub.com/ six returnees from Tokyo. As Serbia & Montenegro, the 2004 final was lost to Hungary and three consecutive bronze-medal-final losses from 2008-2016 and eighth in Tokyo. The three recent world championships all yielded eighth position. Montenegro lost the services of the great Calendar Civic after Tokyo and the void is hard to fill. Duran Aromatic, Stefan COVID and goalkeeper Petra Courtesan will have big roles to play if the team wishes to make the quarterfinals and hope to make the medal round.
Romania
Head coach Bogdan Rath of Romania is a former player for Romanian (1996) and Italy (2004), and he is currently leading his home country to its first Olympics since finishing in tenth place in 2012. Romania finished 10th in Doha with some terrific water polo, and their late selection into the 12-team lineup is only a reward for that. The squad proved it deserved more elite competition when it defeated China and Kazakhstan in Doha and had strong performances against Hungary, Italy, the United States, and Montenegro. Goalie Marius-Florin Tic (top) is the cornerstone of Romania’s defense, and Andrei Neamtu, Vlad-Luca Georgescu, and Tudor-Andrei Fulea are the key players on the attack.
United States of America
In Doha, the USA was left out of the top eight due to controversial calls that embarrassed the players and disrupted the natural flow of Serbian tennis challengers the game. Despite this setback, the team is determined to use improved discipline to strive for a medal in Paris. Having won a total of eight Olympic medals, including a silver in Beijing 2008 and finishing sixth in Tokyo, the USA team is aiming to capitalize on the experience of the 10 returning players from the last Olympics. With strong center forwards like Ben Hallock and Alex Bowen, as well as skilled outside shooters, the USA team is expected to be a formidable opponent. Young talents such as Hannes Daube, Ryder Dodd, and Max Irving add depth and strength to the team, while veterans like Hallock, Bowen, Luca Cupido, and Alex Obert bring invaluable experience from their third Olympic tournaments.
Australia
In Tokyo, the Aussie Sharks are represented by just three players – co-captains Nathan Power and Blake Edwards, as well as Blake’s brother Lachlan Edwards who plays in the centre forward position. Keep an eye on Luke Pavillard who displayed his shooting skills in Doha. In the last competition, Australia fell out of the top 10, securing the 11th spot after defeating China. The competition at the Olympics will be fierce. This year, Australia has secured victories against France, Montenegro, and Japan, but upcoming matches against Hungary, Serbia, and Spain will present significant challenges. Australia’s best Olympic results were fifth place finishes in 1984 and 1992, and in the recent Tokyo Olympics, they finished ninth.
France
Former Italian world champion (Gwangju 2019) and 2016 Rio bronze medallist Michael Bodegas has joined the French team, bringing his expertise from CN Marseille. His familiarity with the French structure will greatly benefit the team. The team is led by the inspirational captain Ugo Crousillat and the scoring wizard Thomas Vernoux, and they impressively made it to the medal round in Doha last February. France finished 11th in Rio 2016 and 11th in Barcelona 1992, but a century ago, they were at the top of the podium. A repeat of that achievement would be a fantastic way to close out the Olympic competition.
Japan
Japan came so close to filling a top-eight berth in Tokyo three years ago and is out to break into the illustrious group this time after some encouraging results in Europe leading into Paris that included beating France, losing to Italy by a goal and dipping to Hungary by four. High goal-scorer Yusuke Inaba leads six fellow players who competed in Tokyo while Toi Suzuki will hold the reins this time around from Keigo Okawa, now at his third Olympic Games alongside goalkeeper Katsuyuki Tanamura and Seiya Adachi.
Hungary
Hungary’s Denes Varga will lead the team for the third time at his fifth Olympic Games after achieving gold in 2008 and bronze in 2020. He follows in the footsteps of legendary players like Dezso Gyamarti, Tibor Benedek, and Tamas Kasas, all of whom have achieved this milestone five times. Balazs Harai is making his fourth Olympic appearance, and Marton Vamos, Krisztian Manhercz, and Gergo Zalanki are gearing up for their third. Eleven players on the team were part of the squad that secured the world title in Fukuoka last year. The team is dedicated to excellence, and despite a recent tournament loss to Italy by two goals, anything is possible in Paris, as evidenced by the events of the early 2000s.
Serbia
Serbia returns two-time https://tayyabirfan.com/ champions Dusan Mandic (432 goals; fourth Olympics and also bronze), Sava Randelovic and Nikola Jaksic, as well as individual gold medalists Strahinja Rasovic (241 caps) and Milos Cuk. There are eight Olympic debutants. The mix of old and new has Serbia hoping for a fifth consecutive visit. The two Olympians used to be from Serbia and Montenegro and Yugoslavia – every day this century.
Spain
Spain are a formidable team as they won https://globalhhub.com/ the European crown for the first time in January and finished third in Doha. Competing in his fifth Olympics (four in Spain and one in Brazil), captain Felipe Perron Serbian tennis challengers has something to prove as he has never won Olympic gold. He has world and world championship gold and European gold in recent years and just needs an Olympic crown to complete a career that began with his first world championship in 2001. Perrone is swimming and shooting every minute and is supported by Alvaro Granados and superstar forward Roger Tahull, who is playing in his third Olympics. Goalkeeper Unai Aguirre is the last brick in Spain’s defense..
Day 2 Schedule
Match 01. 10:30. Group B, Australia v Spain
Match 02. 12:05. Group B, Serbia v Japan
Match 03. 15:00. Group A, Italy v United States of America
Match 04. 16:35. Group A, Croatia v Montenegro
Match 05. 19:30. Group B, France v Hungary
Match 06. 21:05. Group A, Romania v Greece
