Injury eventually did for Alex de Minaur shortly before he was due to play his singles opener at the Olympics, but the Aussie ace still hopes to take part in the men's doubles alongside Alexei Popyrin.
De Minaur had always looked like a doubtful starter in Paris due to a hip cartilage tear suffered as he closed out a last-16 victory over Arthur Fils at Wimbledon a matter of weeks ago.
The recovery period for his injury was estimated at between three and six weeks and time finally beat De Minaur a few hours before he was due to begin his singles campaign against Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.
De Minaur must wait for singles "dream"
The Aussie number one, who would have been fifth seed in the men’s singles, recently admitted "to finally be able to represent Australia in the Olympics is a dream come true".
De Minaur would have been a genuine contender for a medal, perhaps even gold, at the home of the French Open, having reached the quarter-finals of the Paris Grand Slam earlier this year.
The 25-year-old Sydney native made the last eight at the US Open back in 2020 but had been unable to repeat that feat until he did so on the red clay in the French capital this year.
He backed that up with a run to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, only for injury to strike and render him unable to take to the court against Novak Djokovic at SW19.
With De Minaur still committed to playing doubles at the Olympics, he is clearly well on the way back to full fitness and that at least gives reason to be optimistic that he will be ready for the final Grand Slam of 2024, the US Open.
A month before Flushing Meadows
De Minaur has almost exactly a month to get himself in tip-top condition for the US Open, where he has enjoyed several strong showings and where he is 67.00 to go all the way and secure his first-ever Grand Slam title.
New York was the scene of the first of his three runs to a Grand Slam quarter-final back in 2020, with his run ended in straight sets by eventual champion Dominic Thiem.
De Minaur had reached the fourth round of a major for the first time at the US Open 12 months prior to that, while in 2023 he again made his way through to the fourth round.
There he was beaten 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 by Daniil Medvedev, who would go on to endure a third US Open final defeat.
Australia have enjoyed six men’s singles triumphs at the US Open in the Open era, however, the last of those came back in 2001 when Lleyton Hewitt was crowned champion.
Pat Rafter took the honours in both 1997 and 1998, while Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe also tasted glory, with the latter trio having also been crowned champion before the professional ear was ushered in.
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Wimbledon: How the Aussies fared at SW19
Australia's hopes of finally seeing their wait for a men's Wimbledon champion end this year were dashed in the cruellest possible fashion as Alex de Minaur's bid for glory was killed off by injury.
