Tennis at the 2016 Olympics: Fearless ForecastSeptember 17, 2015

The tennis tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics will be held at the Olympic Tennis Center from August 6 to 14. It's less than a year away, so it's too early to make a prediction. On the contrary.

The Top 56 players on June 6, 2016 of the ATP and WTA tours will qualify for the Olympics. It will be safe to say that there won't be any change in the names in the list between now and the sixth of June. Novak Djokovic, fresh from winning his 10th Grand Slam singles title in New York, will likely stay at the top of the ATP rankings. Roger Federer will still be challenging the Serb in the big tournaments. On the women's side, Serena William will continue to dominate the game. And the likes of Roberta Vinci are ranked outside the Top 20. Predicting the next set of Olympic gold medalists will be fun and interesting, as no player defend his/her (Olympic) title successfully. Except for the Williams sisters. Let's have a look at the crystal ball:

Men's singles. Can anyone stop Djokovic? Unless he has a bad day or Federer adds another new shot in his arsenal, then the gold is his for the taking. It's not a foregone conclusion, yet. Even the Serb admits that his Swiss rival is getting better. The winner of 17 major singles titles rued his missed opportunities on those break points in the men's singles finals. It might be a different result in London, in case both men meet in the finals of the ATP World Tour Finals, or Melbourne, where Djokovic aims for a record-tying sixth Australian Open title. Andy Murray, who will defend his Olympic title, mustn't be discounted. A healthy Kei Nishikori can score an upset. And Rafael Nadal might make a turnaround next season.

Women's singles. Serena Williams is supposed to be the overwhelming favorite, but the last seven editions of the Summer Olympics produce seven different gold medalists. (Steffi Graf, 1988. Jennifer Capriati, 1992. Lindsay Davenport, 1996. Venus Williams, 2000. Justine Henin, 2004. Elena Dementieva, 2008. Serena Williams, 2012.) Newly-crowned US Open champion Flavia Pennetta, who is set to retire at the end of the season, can qualify even she didn't play a match next year. (Pennetta will likely compete in the WTA Tour Finals in Singapore next month. She'll have enough points to stay in the Top 20 until next summer.) The Italian didn't rule out the possibility of playing in her third straight Olympics. Giovanni MalagÃ², the president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, will talk to her about it. If Pennetta changes her mind, then it might be possible she'll play a limited number of tournament next season. It's safe to bet on the hard court, where she has the best results. Don't rule her out of a medal.

Men's doubles. Expect Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares to team up in Rio. The two played together in London, failing to advance to the semifinals. They can be contenders, with the home crowd to back them up. Bob and Mike Bryan, the reigning Olympic champion, are the top favourites. Pierre Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, US Open winners, can go the distance. And let's not count out Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, who came close of reaching the finals in Flushing Meadows. The match will be determined by a few points, and Melo and Soares can end up with the gold medal around their necks if luck is on their side.

Women's doubles. It's been three long years since the Venus and Serena Williams won a major event in women's doubles, but it won't be an issue in Rio. This might be an open field, where the contenders come from all over the world. Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia. Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan of Chinese Taipei. Casey Dellacqua and Sam Stosur of Australia. (There's a strong possibility that the two will team up in Rio.) The Italian side may be the biggest threat to the Williams sisters, as Karin Knapp and Vinci and/or Sara Errani and Pennetta can beat the illustrious siblings.

Mixed doubles. Expect Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka to defend their title, but they might not be lucky to make it to the podium. The next winners might be Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mike Bryan (USA), Martina Hingis and Stan Wawrinka/Federer (Switzerland), or Leander Paes and Sanya Mirza (India).

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