Sydney local Jordan Thompson will make his Olympic debut in Rio in the men’s singles after a strong 12 months on the court, becoming the first New South Welshman to compete in an Olympic tennis event since Athens 2004.
Several withdrawals in the men’s field opened up a spot for the 22-year-old, who will join Thanasi Kokkinakis (SA) and John Millman (Qld) in the singles draw.
John Peers (Vic) and Chris Guccione (Vic) will team up in men’s doubles, while Sam Stosur (Qld) and Daria Gavrilova (Vic) will play in both the women’s singles and doubles events for Australia.
Thompson advanced to the second round of the French Open in May before losing 12-10 in the fifth set to Croatian stalwart Ivo Karlovic, which helped lift his world ranking to a career-high of 88.
The right-hander with a double-hand backhand took up the sport at age four because of his parents, Stephen and Karen, both played.
Thompson, who was born and lives in Sydney, turned pro in 2013 and since then has won the Australian Open 2014 Wildcard Play-off, defeating Ben Mitchell in the final 6-3 6-2 4-6 4-6 6-1. He went on to repeat that feat last year with a gruelling five-set defeat of John-Patrick Smith.
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