The German-Lebanese Benjamin Hassan is the first men’s professional to secure his ticket for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edited: 11.06.2024, 09:10
© GEPA pictures
Benjamin Hassan will compete for Lebanon at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
It’s kind of crazy: Benjamin Hassan fought for almost two years to be allowed to play under the German flag on the ATP Tour again and now the German-Lebanese dual citizen has received a wildcard for the singles competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris through the Lebanese association. He is thus the first officially confirmed starter for the tournament, which only takes place every four years.
How come? The ITF reserves the right to issue a so-called “university ticket” to one man and one woman for the Olympic tennis tournament. This automatically allows players to take part in the singles main draw without having to go through the complicated process of qualifying. The “university tickets” are awarded to players from countries that are quantitatively underrepresented at the Olympic Games – Lebanon is one such example.
Women’s ticket for Kovinic
Hassan had played a total of 27 matches for Lebanon in the Davis Cup over the past seven years – an important piece of the puzzle in order to now be able to accept the surprising honor of a starting place at Roland Garros.
As already mentioned, the ITF also awarded a “universality ticket” for the women’s main draw. Danka Kovinic from Montenegro was the lucky winner. The 29-year-old from Southeast Europe was already ranked 46th in the WTA rankings in 2016 and has won five W100 events at ITF Tour level.
The final entry lists for the Olympic tennis tournament in Paris are to be published by the ITF on July 4th.
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Hassan Benjamin
2024-06-11 06:00:00
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