For tennis players, Olympics lack luster

Serena Williams seemed to have the best answer regarding how important a gold medal is to tennis players.

Sure, it's an honor to represent your country, but the Games are no Grand Slam.

August 12, 2008

BEIJING -- Quite often, the prevailing question about Olympic tennis is not so much who won or who lost, but why bother.

On Monday at the Beijing Games, when results were mostly predictable and matches were mostly routine, it was interesting to hear the same old line of questions being rolled out by the same old questioners.

 

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"What do you think of your Olympic experience?" asks Francois from France.

"Is it as important to you to win an Olympic gold as it is to win a Grand Slam?" asks Manuel from Mexico.

To their credit, the players try.

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Rather than running from the news conference room, screaming, they take a deep breath, roll out their best sincere look and attempt different ways of telling half-truths.

* Yes, the Olympics are important. (What else are they going to say; this is like Monday afternoon in New Haven?)

* Yes, a gold medal would be a treasure along the lines of a Wimbledon trophy. (Not one player in the world would pass a lie detector test with that.)

* Yes, they are proud to represent their countries (Even though, the very essence of what they have been trained for and what they do is to represent only themselves).

You want the truth? You probably can't handle the truth.

How about: "I don't care about this in the least."

Or: "I think this is an incredible imposition, the worst-timed event in the world. All I really want to do is prepare for the U.S. Open. With money like what that pays, why would I care about anything else?"

Serena Williams handled the dance best Monday.

"For tennis players, our main goal is the Grand Slams," she said. "The gymnasts, for example, their main thing is the Olympics, and they get one, maybe two shots at it."

Exactly. The Olympics is their Wimbledon. Same for swimmers, fencers, team handballers, wrestlers, rowers. On and on.

Not so tennis. It doesn't quite fit. Tennis in the Olympics is your Uncle Herbie at the formal wedding in Crocs.

There was nothing particularly unusual about Monday's competition, other than there were lots of matches because rain washed out most of opening day Sunday.

Both Williams sisters won easily, Wimbledon champion Venus got on and off center court as fast as her younger sister. They are seeded seventh and fourth, respectively, and are the show on the women's side, especially since they will also try to win their second doubles gold medal, the first coming in 2000 in Sydney.

Ana Ivanovic, ranked second in the world, pulled out because of an injury, but her Serbian teammate, Jelena Jankovic, now No. 1, will also be a draw.

On the men's side, there is no lack of star quality either.

Roger Federer will give up his top ranking next week to Rafael Nadal, who has won the last two majors, the French Open and Wimbledon. But who is No. 1 and 2 will be less of a story here than if they can make it to yet another final, with the memory of their Wimbledon epic still fresh. On Monday, Federer won in straight sets and Nadal battled through three to advance.

Novak Djokovic, who charmed the world at the U.S. Open with his player impersonations and who also happens to be this year's Australian Open champion, is here too. He took out U.S. player Robby Ginepri on Monday night. Another U.S. player, Sam Querrey, was also ousted, leaving only James Blake alive in singles. The Bryan brothers, seeded No. 1 in doubles, did not play Monday.

The main wrinkles on the form chart were an uncharacteristic flop by Britain's Andy Murray, seeded sixth, and the first-round exit of defending doubles champions Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu of Chile.

So it was a busy day and night at the funky looking, circular tennis stadium, with the schedule surviving under daylong threatening skies. It will be over fairly quickly, with women's singles decided Saturday and men's Sunday.

The draw here is 64, half of a Grand Slam tournament's, and they play the best of three sets -- except for the men's singles and doubles gold-medal matches. That makes two more reasons not to lump this in with the big four.

Certainly, for those who win or even carry away a medal, the trip, and the effort, will have been worth it.

For the rest, if they were honest, they would tell you that, all things considered, they'd rather be in Philadelphia.