The 2016 Summer Olympics have arrived, and the tennis tournament will occupy the first of the two weeks of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro. Players who played last week in Canada (Montreal) have made the trek down to South America before going back to North America – Cincinnati, followed by New York – for the conclusion of the summer hardcourt season. This will be a mentally challenging tournament for all players.
The competition in the 64-player main draw will begin on Saturday, August 6.
Event Details
Event: Summer Olympic Games – The Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Category: International Tennis Federation – Olympic Tennis
Date: August 6 – 13, 2016
Location: Olympic Tennis Center – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
With no rankings points or cash prizes offered to players, this is all about national pride and glory. In the previous Olympics in 2012 – held on the grounds of The All-England Club, the site of the Wimbledon tennis championships – there was more of a pro tour feel to the event, and that included the awarding of rankings points. This doesn’t have any tour incentive, and it’s a part (not the whole reason, but certainly a part) of why Simona Halep has chosen not to play in the event. It’s why a few other players have withdrawn as well. Victoria Azarenka won’t play because she’s going to give birth to a child. At any rate, this is a weaker field than a Premier 5 event, not just a Grand Slam. Expect a lot of chaos, though, for the above reason about players interrupting their schedules for this event. Don’t expect consistent performances from the top players.
Former Medalists and Results (Last 5 Olympics)
Olympic Years And Medalists
2012 (London) – GOLD: Serena Williams / SILVER: Maria Sharapova / BRONZE: Victoria Azarenka
2008 (Beijing) – GOLD: Elena Dementieva / SILVER: Dinara Safina / BRONZE: Vera Zvonareva
2004 (Athens) – GOLD: Justine Henin-Hardenne / SILVER: Amelie Mauresmo / BRONZE: Alicia Molik
2000 (Sydney) – GOLD: Venus Williams / SILVER: Elena Dementieva / BRONZE: Monica Seles
1996 (Atlanta) – GOLD: Lindsay Davenport / SILVER: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario / BRONZE: Jana Novotna
Player Info:
Serena Williams will be the top seed, and Angelique Kerber will be the number two seed on the opposite side of the draw. These are the top dogs and both have been the most consistent players so far this season. Williams continues to move deep into tournaments and while she did take some flack for not winning some events, the reality is that when she’s losing, it’s late. The same can be said for Kerber – for the most part – and she figures to be the main hurdle for Williams.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza is the third seed but she is stronger on clay court. She played a fantastic tournament at the French Open but then she hasn’t been as strong since. Agnieszka Radwanska is fourth, so those two players will be placed into the opposite halves of this draw. Venus Williams is the fifth seed, Roberta Vinci – who has really struggled this year after her run to the 2015 U.S. Open final – is sixth, a testament to how weak this field. Madison Keys is seventh, and Svetlana Kuznetsova is eighth.
There are 16 seeds. Nine through 12 are occupied by Carla Suarez Navarro, Johanna Konta, Petra Kvitova, and Timea Bacsinszky. The 13 through 16 spots are as follows: Samantha Stosur, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Elina Svitolina, and Barbora Strycova. It’s unlikely any of these players really makes some noise, but this is the women’s draw at an event where there is minimal money on the line. Anything can happen.
Olympic Tennis Center
This is a facility built just in time for – and especially for – the Olympics. It’s hard to see when or how it will be used after the Olympic Games are over. There is a Rio stop on the WTA Tour, but it is a clay-court event. It could be that the Rio tournament will become a hardcourt tournament in future years, but that might sacrifice the clay event, and that’s a reasonably popular event on the tour. At any rate, the building of the Olympic Tennis Center will cause a few complications in Rio, on top of all the headaches which already exist.
