Posted: 2024-07-26 14:28:00
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Every four years, it feels like a fifth Grand Slam is added to the tennis calendar when the Olympic tournament is sandwiched between Wimbledon and the US Open. For the 2024 Games in Paris, it'll mean a return to Roland-Garros for many players, home to the French Open. Over the first week of the Olympic Games, five tennis competitions will take place: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles. The stars will be out.

For Team USA, Coco Gauff headlines the group and enters as the No. 2 seeded woman. Gauff was also selected to be the US delegation's flag bearer for the opening ceremony with LeBron James. The other three women on the US team -- No. 5 Jessica Pegula, No. 7 Danielle Collins and No. 11 Emma Navarro -- also earned high seeds. No. 7 Taylor Fritz and No. 9 Tommy Paul lead the US men.

Coco Gauff of Team USA trains during the Tennis training session ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Roland Garros

Coco Gauff will compete in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles competitions in Paris.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Iga Swiatek of Poland, winner of the last three French Opens and four out of the last five enters as the top seed for the women. Serbia's Novak Djokovic is the top-seeded man, and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain -- the current French Open and Wimbledon champion -- is the No. 2 seed. The 21-year-old phenom will team up with 38-year-old legend Rafael Nadal in the doubles competition for Spain -- a pairing known as Nadalcaraz.

The singles and doubles competitions for both men and women begin on Saturday. Peacock is the best way to stream the 2024 Olympic games, but you can watch much of the Olympics across NBC's family of channels -- NBC, USA Network, E!, CNBC and Golf Channel -- with cable or satellite TV or a live TV streaming service. 

How to watch Olympic tennis

If you want to watch all of the tennis at the 2024 Olympics in the US, you'd want Peacock. Even after a recent price hike, which raises the monthly charge from $6 to $8, Peacock is one of the most affordable streaming services. With it, you can watch any event live; NBC states Peacock will stream 5,000 hours of live coverage throughout the Games, including all 329 medal events and, crucially, every match of both the men's and women's singles and doubles tournaments.

In addition to live-streaming each event, Peacock will have a whip-around show, Gold Zone, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET (4 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT) each day. If you're watching an event on Gold Zone that you're really into, you can continue to watch it even if Gold Zone cuts away to something else. Peacock will display Live Action on-screen prompts that will let you stay with the event or follow Gold Zone's coverage.

Peacock will also have four multiview options that will let you watch four events at once. You'll be able to watch NBC's nightly Primetime in Paris show on Peacock, and Peacock will have its own daily recap show "hosted" by AI-generated Al Michaels.

Peacock offers two Premium plans, and each costs $2 more a month than it did last week. After the recent price increases, the ad-supported Premium plan will cost $8 a month, and the ad-free Premium plan will cost $14 a month. You can use either Premium plan to watch the Olympics.

Read our Peacock review.

Where is the 2024 Olympic tennis being held?

All of the matches will be played on the famed red clay of Roland-Garros, home of the French Open, in Paris.

When does the 2024 Olympic tennis start and end?

Tennis gets underway right away, starting up on the first full day of the Olympic competition. Here's the schedule for the five tennis tournaments:

  • Women's singles: Saturday, July 27 to Saturday, Aug. 3
  • Men's singles: Saturday, July 27 to Sunday, Aug. 4
  • Women's doubles: Saturday, July 27 to Sunday, Aug. 3
  • Men's doubles: Saturday, July 27 to Saturday, Aug. 4
  • Mixed doubles: Monday, July 29 to Friday, Aug. 2

Who are the top-seeded players for Olympic tennis?

There are 64 players in each of the men's and women's singles tournaments, and the top 16 in each are seeded.

Olympic singles seeds

SEED NAMECOUNTRYSEEDNAMECOUNTRY
1 Novak DjokovicSerbia1Iga SwiatekPoland
2 Carlos AlcarazSpain2Coco GauffUnited States
3 Alexander ZverevGermany3Elena RybakinaKazakhstan
4 Daniil MedvedevNeutral athlete4Jasmine PaoliniItaly
5 Alex de MinaurAustraila5Jessica PegulaUnited States
6 Casper RuudNorway6Qinwen ZhengChina
7 Taylor FritzUnited States7Maria SakkariGreece
8 Stefanos TsitsipasGreece8Danielle CollinsUnited States
9 Tommy PaulUnited States9Barbora KrejcikovaCzech Republic
10 Ugo HumbertFrance10Jelena OstapenkoLatvia
11 Holger RuneDenmark11Emma NavarroUnited States
12 Lorenzo MusettiItaly12Marta KostyukUkraine
13 Sebastián BáezArgentina13Donna VekicCroatia
14 Félix Auger-AliassimeCanada14Beatriz Haddad-MaiaBrazil
15 Arthur FilsFrance15Diane ShnaiderNeutral athlete
16 Nicolas JarryChile16Leylah FernandezCanada

Elena Rybakina and Holger Rune announced after the seedings were revealed that they were withdrawing from the Olympics with injuries. They join Jannick Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, who dropped out earlier. Each of them would have been among the favorites.

You can check out the men's singles bracket and women's singles bracket and begin salivating about a potential second-round clash between the top-seeded Djokovic and the unseeded Nadal. This pair owns a combined 46 Grand Slam singles titles.

Are there any fun double pairings?

Yes! In addition to Alcaraz and Nadal teaming up for Spain, Andy Murray and Dan Evans will partner for Great Britain for the men's doubles in what will be the final event in the 37-year-old Murray's career that includes a pair of gold medals in Olympic singles and a silver in mixed doubles.

Coco Gauff is doubling down on the doubles, partnering with Jessica Pegula for the women's doubles and Taylor Fritz for mixed. Taylor Fritz is also playing in both doubles events, teaming up with Tommy Paul for the men's doubles.

Stefanos Tsitsipas will play alongside his brother Petros for Greece, and Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic look like formidable duos.

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain pose for photo during the Mutua Madrid Open 2022 celebrated at La Caja Magica

Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal are teaming up for Spain in the men's doubles.

Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images

When does Coco Gauff play?

Gauff will play Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the first round on either Saturday or Sunday; the match has yet to be scheduled. 

In doubles, Gauff and Pegula are scheduled to play the fourth match on Court 14 on Saturday against Daria Saville and Ellen Perez of Australia. Play begins at 12 p.m. local time in Paris or 6 a.m. ET (3 a.m. PT) in the US.

In mixed doubles, Gauff and Fritz aren't scheduled to play until Monday or Tuesday. They were set to face a team featuring Rybakina, who withdrew from both the singles and mixed doubles; their first-round opponent is still unknown.

You can view the full Olympic tennis schedule here.

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff of the United States play doubles

Doubles partners Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff are teaming up to go for Olympic gold in Paris.

Robert Prange/Getty Images

What's the time difference between Paris and the US?

Paris is 6 hours ahead of New York and the rest of the Eastern time zone. It's 7 hours ahead of the Central time zone, 8 hours ahead of Mountain time and 9 hours ahead of Pacific time.

This difference means that most events will be shown live in the morning and afternoon for US viewers.

Do I need Peacock to watch Olympic tennis in the US?

Nope, you can watch Olympic tennis on TV, but Peacock will give you access to every match.

In the US, you need five TV channels for the Olympics: NBC, USA Network, E!, CNBC and Golf Channel. You might find some of the medal-round matches on NBC, but serious tennis fans will need Peacock for full access to all of the tennis in Paris.

NBC will broadcast its Primetime in Paris show each evening in the US. Mike Tirico hosts the show, which includes reports from Snoop Dogg. 

What's the best live TV streaming service for the Olympics?

Sling TV is the most affordable option if you live in one of the few markets where it offers NBC. Failing that, YouTube TV is the best service for the Olympics because its base plan, which costs $73, offers all five channels you'll need. 

If Sling takes a conditional gold medal and YouTube TV gets the silver among live TV streaming services for watching the Olympics, then Hulu with Live TV is awarded the bronze. It costs only $4 more per month than YouTube TV and includes all five channels for watching the Olympics.

Read more: Best Sports Streaming Service for 2024

With a live TV streaming subscription (or cable-satellite plan), you'll be able to authenticate yourself as a paying TV subscriber to watch live streams of every event on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app or the NBC Olympics app. That's a great option if you don't want to sign up for Peacock and want to pick and choose which events to watch.

Sling TV's $40-a-month Blue plan includes NBC, USA Network and E!. You can add CBNC for an extra $6 a month and the Golf Channel for another $11 a month. Even with those add-ons, Sling TV is the cheapest way to get all five channels for the Olympics -- provided you live in one of the few markets where Sling offers NBC.

Read our Sling TV review.

YouTube TV costs $73 a month and includes NBC, USA Network, E!, CNBC and Golf Channel. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to confirm which local networks are available in your area.

Read our YouTube TV review.

Hulu with Live TV costs $77 a month and includes NBC, USA Network, E!, CNBC and Golf Channel. Click the "View channels in your area" link on its welcome page to confirm which local channels are offered in your ZIP code.

Read our Hulu with Live TV review.

All of the live TV streaming services above allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. For more information, check out our live TV streaming services guide.

How to watch Olympics tennis from anywhere with a VPN

If you can't view the Olympics tennis locally, you may need a different way to watch the matches -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic. It's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network and want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.

With a VPN, you can virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to access the match. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it easy to do this.

Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.

Latest Tests DNS leaks detected, 25% speed loss in 2024 testsNetwork 3,000 plus servers in 105 countriesJurisdiction British Virgin Islands

ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied.

Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Livestream the 2024 Olympic tennis in the UK

The BBC will broadcast the 2024 Games on its free-to-air channels, but coverage is limited to BBC One and BBC Two. You can also live stream all the action from Paris on the BBC iPlayer

The BBC iPlayer has dedicated apps available for Android and Apple mobile devices, as well as a vast array of smart TVs and streaming boxes, all you need is a valid UK TV license to stream the tournament.

The BBC promises more than 250 hours of live coverage of the Olympics across the two channels, but not every tennis event is set to be shown. For those in the UK wanting more comprehensive coverage of both tournaments, as well as the Olympics as a whole, Discovery Plus is where it's at, which is offering 3,800 hours of live coverage across 55 dedicated online channels.  

A subscription to Discovery Plus in the UK costs £7 per month or £60 for the year.

The service is available on a wide array of devices and also includes access to all Eurosport TV channels.

Livestream the 2024 Olympic tennis in Australia

Aussies can watch Olympic tennis on the Nine Network. The Network will have select live coverage of the Olympics, and you can watch on-demand highlights on the network's streaming service 9Now.

Meanwhile, pay-TV service Stan Sport will show all 329 Olympic events ad-free and in 4K Ultra HD. 

Matt Jelonek/Getty Images

Channel 9's streaming service 9Now is free to use for viewers in Australia, with dedicated apps for Android and Apple devices, as well as Amazon Fire, plus a wide range of smart TVs.

Stan Sport costs AU$10 a month (on top of an AU$10 Stan subscription), but the streaming service is currently offering a seven-day free trial. It will show every event -- ad-free and in 4K -- and you'll be able to stream live or on-demand.

Livestream the 2024 Olympic tennis in Canada

In Canada, the Games will be broadcast on TV channels CBC, TSN and Sportsnet. They will also be shown on the free CBC Gem streaming service.

Screenshot by Josh Goldman/CNET

The free CBC Gem streaming service will show live events each day of the 2024 Olympics.

Quick tips for streaming the 2024 Olympics tennis using a VPN 

  • With four variables at play -- your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN -- your experience and success when streaming the Olympic tennis live may vary.
  • If you don't see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the "search for city or country" option.
  • If you're having trouble watching the Olympics after you've turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try to fix it. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs -- like Roku -- don't have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you'll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you're using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
  • All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network's sports app, you'll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help since both devices will appear to be in the correct location. 
  • Remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you're using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
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