The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are here. Will tennis players struggle with the Zika virus or other local conditions? They’re not used to playing in this climate at this part of the year. They will deal with Olympic distractions and the different kind of energy on site. Athletes will probably mingle with other athletes from other sports in other countries during this week. Can they remain focused? We’ll have to wait and see.
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 – 14, 2016
Location: Olympic Tennis Center – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
With no rankings points or money to play for, this is all about immortality and being remembered forever as an Olympic champion. Lots of players didn’t want to go to Rio to bother with a tournament which wouldn’t offer rankings points. You can see the effects of that policy by the hollowed-out nature of the field after the top 10, as you’ll soon read below.
Former Medalists and Results (Last 5 Olympics)
Olympic Years And Medalists
2012 (London) – GOLD: Andy Murray / SILVER: Roger Federer / BRONZE: Juan Martin del Potro
2008 (Beijing) – GOLD: Rafael Nadal / SILVER: Fernando Gonzalez / BRONZE: Novak Djokovic
2004 (Athens) – GOLD: Nicolas Massu / SILVER: Mardy Fish / BRONZE: Fernando Gonzalez
2000 (Sydney) – GOLD: Yevgeny Kafelnikov / SILVER: Tommy Haas / BRONZE: Arnaud di Pasquale
1996 (Atlanta) – GOLD: Andre Agassi / SILVER: Sergi Bruguera / BRONZE: Leander Paes
Player Info:
Novak Djokovic will be the top seed, and Andy Murray will be the second seed. Rafael Nadal is back from injury, installed as the third seed because of the absences of two Swiss players, Roger Federer (injured) and Stan Wawrinka (who chose not to play). Kei Nishikori is the fourth seed. He lost to Djokovic in the final of the Canada Masters 1000 event in Toronto on July 31. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is No. 9 in the world rankings, but in this tournament, pullouts – such as one from Tomas Berdych – has made the Frenchman the No. 5 seed. Gael Monfils is right beside Tsonga, his countryman, in the No. 6 position. David Ferrer is No. 12 in the world, but seventh in the seedings in Rio. David Goffin is eighth.
Then consider seeds nine through 16. The gap between actual world ranking and Olympic seeding gets really large starting at 11.
The ninth seed is Marin Cilic, and the 10th seed is Roberto Bautista Agut. Right from nine to ten, you can see a huge gape. Cilic is someone who can get to the quarters or semis of a major event where is Agut doesn’t make long runs like that, so that’s not to be expected at the Summer Olympics.
Then come the huge chasms between rankings and seeds. Pablo Cuevas is No. 21 in the world, but he will be the No. 11 seed in this event. Steve Johnson: 22 in the world, 12 in the seedings. Philipp Kohlschreiber: 23 in the world, 13 in the seedings. Jack Sock: 25 in the world, 14 in the seedings. Gilles Simon is 31 in the world but 15 in the seed order. Benoit Paire is 32 in ranking, but 16 in the seedings, which is staggering.
Olympic Tennis Center
This is a facility built expressly to host tennis at the Olympic Games. This might be the only role or responsibility of this tennis complex for some time. The main stadium court holds 10,000 spectators. The second show court contains 5,000 seats. The third show court has a capacity of 3,000. Then there are outside courts in the facility. This is just one of many venues the organizers of the Olympics scrambled to complete just before the Opening Ceremony, which occurred Friday night in the Rio Summer Olympics.
A lot of people have been concerned about the heat that the players will be playing in, but that’s just casual fans who don’t quite have a full grasp on the scene. August is actually a winter month in Brazil, so the temperatures are modest. Even in terms of the Zika virus, the summer months are the times to be concerned for this. In terms of the winter, this is mostly a non-factor.
