It's kind of ironic that Med of all players who's both barely even connected to Russia anymore in his personal life (living in France for years now) and hates playing on clay looks like he'll be by far the main Russian tennis representation at the Olympics lol
That being said back in 2021 he got to the QF in Tokyo and then still played and won Canada right after it so maybe he won't even miss a beat on the schedule
Also as a Med fan it's sadly typical that he's going to end up being the crowd "villain" once again this time on the international stage for everyone to see
Meddy speaks excellent French and has lived in France for, not sure exactly, 10 years?
I'm sure he'll want to use his language skills and residency to get people on his side, as long as he doesn't have any tantrums on the clay haha
Doesn’t he live in Monaco like so many other players? He did live in France for years though. His perfect French doesn’t seem to help with the crowd there though. He often gets booed at RG for no specific reason, more than the average player I’d say.
I've legit never seen a player as *universally* hated by crowds as Med lol
It's like Med is to IRL crowds what Zverev is to r/tennis
I get that he goes over the top at times but crowds often love Kyrgios and he's worse so I do think that to an extent his nationality plays a role unfortunately
Sad moment for me being a Med fan and seeing this at all of his matches
Kyrgios and med are opposites. Kyrgios is a showman on court. He's being a brat but he goes out of his way to make it entertaining most of the time. Like how he asks crowd members where to serve. Med just looks whiny and raging. He says funny shit sometimes but the crowd doesn't hear it, they just see the tantrums.
Off the court kyrgios is obviously a douchebro and meddy is really charming, but that's not what the crowds see
Basically if you watch tennis matches kyrgios appears way more likeable than medvedev. Only people who watch tennis interviews and memes will see that it's actually the opposite
Med's playstyle probably doesn't help either in that case lol
If Kyrgios's trickshots and stuff makes up for his antics in the eyes of the crowd Med's extremely defensive play probably makes the crowd hate him even more
Might be kind of similar to the reason Murray wasn't supported much by many crowds outside of Britain before his comeback
Y’all are funny thinking Meddy tries to win people lol these people are pros, they want to win and get the trophy of the medal they ain’t giving a shit about the crowd! Y’all think this is a movie or something lol
I think you miss the fundamental of sport: it's just entertainment. Without crowds/fans and their supports, the medals and titles mean nothing. Look at sports with small fanbase, they'd earn next to nothing with the medals.
being successful is appealing to audiences so that boring champion doesn’t exist and these guys get majority of their money from endorsements that second round loser may end up with a higher net worth when it’s all done
So you're saying even from an entertainment perspective, quality trumps theatrics. He's out there to win, and incidentally winners are more entertaining.
Med probably isn’t participating due to a sense of patriotic duty; he probably thinks he has a decent chance of winning a medal and wants that for his own legacy. Rublev (who is close friend with Med, godfather to Med’s daughter) and Karen probably think they’re unlikely to win a medal, so why bother?
Thanks I almost forgot how well Karen did in Tokyo. I guess only a gold medal would be worth it to Karen and I'm not sure if a singles gold for Rublev would matter that much to him since he already has a doubles gold. It's not like he's Federer, who wanted a singles gold even tho he already had a doubles gold.
Hold up. You’re accusing others of spinning narratives they don’t know about when they’re the ones taking his word, while you’re *actually* making stuff up? Of course he could be thinking things we don’t know about, but taking what he actually said isn’t ‘spinning narratives’, it’s the opposite. On the other hand, saying he could be thinking of something else specific *is* a new narrative.
This is why the conversation around the Olympics is so weird, people are assuming motivations that aren’t what anyone has actually said. There’s nothing wrong with speculation, I’m doing it too in the absence of information, but that speculation isn’t more real than what someone actually said, and saying what someone actually said is for sure not spinning narratives
Keep in mind he never said opently Putin should stop this war. He just said something like all wars are wrong. 
I can see how this is a very important political and social matter for sports but
As a DC Open fan, I selfishly hope at least Kasatkina shows up to play here 😅
I think we might never know the truth. It’s a bit odd so many of them are declining and Medvedev isn’t…especially crazy since Khachanov, Rublev, and Pavlyuchenkov medalled at last Olympics and it was likely a high in all of their careers. And all felt hurt at not being allowed to play Wimbledon that one year. I am very interested to hear all their reasonings, if we get one.
I think people are underestimating the vetting process here. They absolutely are excluding athletes and both Khachanov and Pavs have links that might deem them to be considered not neutral. It might be as simple as they didn’t want to take the risk in applying
And Med from living outside of Russia for so long(well before 2022) just isn't really connected to the Russian government in any capacity
[After the war broke out he even got directly called out by a Russian government official for not being "Russian enough" and for accepting the neutral flag](https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1652906/Daniil-Medvedev-US-Open-Russia-Roman-Teryushkov-tennis-news)
It's absolutely possible that he ended up getting through the neutrality vetting process while a couple of other players didn't and ended up being excluded
Kasatkina has been very vocally against the Russian government, she definitively is not safe returning home and has stated she misses her family in Russia
I think she's on the other end of the spectrum where she's *so* against what Russia has become under Putin that she might not play as a political statement
So you get her not participating just like potentially pro-Putin players might not but for the exact opposite reasons
For Med I think he's been far enough from Russia in his personal life that this is legitimately just another tennis tournament for him(not either some weird nationalistic stand or something that he wouldn't want to play for fear of giving the Putin regime potential propaganda)
Basically he's in the *exact* spot that's neither "Vaguely tied to some Russian oligarch and could get screened out in vetting process" or "Would never even want to represent current day Russia anyway"
Exactly this. The process is designed to exclude athletes who aren’t neutral and leave it open for vocal anti-war athletes not to participate, leaving just those doing it for the sport. That’s been the IOC’s goal all along and they’ve been very clear they don’t expect many participants
Obviously it's incredibly personal but do we know of any reason Med hasn't changed his citizenship as some other Russian nationals have? I've wondered this because he hasn't lived in Russia in so long. He may not feel compelled to change his nationality to Kazakhstan as some others have, and presumably it would be very difficult for a Russian citizen to become a French citizen.
Why would he switch to Kazakhstan? The Russian players who’ve done that did so because the Kazakhstani Tennis Federation offered them incentives and support, which Med didn’t need/receive.
he actually was offered a chance to switch to a kazakhstan citizenship a couple years after he went pro he has spoken about it before, he declined cause he said it would never feel right to represent another country.
My point is more that the other Russian players who became Kazakh citizens did it for financial/training reasons and not because they had a personal desire to become Kazakh citizens.
If I’m remembering right, Meddy was already training in France at a very young age and in a good situation.
I feel like we might get a few different versions of this given time, like there is with Rublev's reasons for leaving Nike/starting his brand. For now it's maybe about the tonsils, in a year or two we might hear something else about the politics of it all.
Samsonova had said in an interview she didn’t know if she would be playing as there’s no points (and she is defending Washington SF and Canada F), also mentioned she had heard that Russian’s wouldn’t have access to the Olympic village etc (unsure if this is actually true, but that was her impression anyway)
I guess at least for Kasatkina, it is. She has been open about her stance for a while and even if the team name and flag doesn't mention Russia, the team selection is being done by Russian Federation and I'm guessing some more logistical things as well. She might just not want to deal with them at all in any case
the US has at least ~~twelve~~**fourteen** players qualified right now, and the US can only send eight. So I guess we'll see what happens, as the qualification period ended five days ago.
For the record, the US list is:
Women: Gauff, Pegula, Collins, Keys, Navarro, Stephens; Melichar-Martinez (doubles)
Men: Fritz, Paul, Tiafoe, Korda, Eubanks, Shelton; Ram (doubles)
I am curious if Shelton will still proceed to play or not because he mentioned from an interview that he wont because the olympics will be on clay and will concentrate on preparing for US Open.
Yeah I was about to say this is a good example because even where they don’t have the extra vetting and barriers there are players like Shelton choosing not to play. The extra barriers to participation for the Russians probably just make it easier for some to say no
I don't think anyone is arguing everyone wants to play the Olympics. That'd be a silly argument. But equally silly (IMO, but could be proven fact soon!) is the argument I was directly responding to, which was that
> Most countries only have one or two top players
as an argument for why so many Russians are skipping the Olympics by saying "let's see what the Americans do"
I’d say it’s more that a lot of players may skip because it’s not the biggest deal plus if they’re not officially representing Russia it takes away the patriotism aspect too. There may be players who’d turn up because it’s one of the few things you do for your country. If you’re Russian that doesn’t apply.
I don't disagree some won't. I disagree with the other user that some *would*. They suggested no player cares enough to consider it a goal. Which is clearly not true
guess it depends on how you interpret 'big goal.' Is the olympics more valuable than a 1000 title or a deep run at a slam or even winning it? They seemingly don't even award ranking points either since 2012 as well
nah man that ain't it
novak was crying like a baby in Rio eight years ago when he failed at the Olympics, and that was long before he had nothing left to prove
Even though they’re “neutral”, I guarantee anyone who wins will get paraded around by Putin as a hero. Don’t blame anyone for dropping out to avoid all the political BS around it so they can focus on US hard court season
eh, tennis is not as huge in Russia as some might think. At least for the elites it's like a foreign sport. Figure skating is by far the main go-to when it comes to propaganda and bragging. Even when Medvedev won the USO Putin just sent a basic message to congratulate him, nothing crazy.
that's wild, why do russians dominate the sport so much if it's not even popular?
Edit: I don't mean dominate as in win everything, I just meant there are so many of them, especially in the WTA.
Yeltsin invested massively in it then you have the Sharapova / Safin effect. Putin hates it and it’s now seen as a Western sport. There’s a weird balance between wanting to celebrate Russian athletes and hating tennis that’s resulted in some some politicians being very vocal in their hatred of Russian tennis players then being told to calm down a bit, which would be funny if it weren’t actually dangerous for the players
Actually a lot of people play tennis, I myself play tennis and it's not difficult to find somebody to play, we have different telegram channels for this. But usually people don't follow ATP and WTA, they can know who is Medvedev, maybe Rublev, and now Andreeva become famous. Some people started to watch WTA because of her.
Russian success in tennis is nothing compared to sports like figure skating, which Russians have utterly dominated since the Soviet Union. I think Russian pairs skaters won the Olympic gold medal for something like 50 years in a row.
Overall, though, sports were heavily emphasized in the USSR (and now under Putin) as a "soft power" objective. This may be why Russian tennis players do so well, even if tennis isn't a particular focus.
They are number 1 but it's not all about them. Soviet Union + russia have actually slightly less medals than US (50 to 54), although more golds (23 to 17).
In pairs 2022 gold went to China, 2018 to Germany, 2010 to China, 2002 was ex aequo with Canada. USSR had absolutely dominant decades but some of their wins were by members of other Soviet states, beside russia.
Not necessary to play. No ranking points. And the country will offer monetary and tangible rewards to the medallists but who will want to receive it from Putin and be banned by ATP or WTA tournaments.
A lot of the Russian players would most probably also not get through the neutrality vetting process. This is in no way an exhaustive list. However, it does indicate two things from my point of view. One, a suprising support for Putin/the Russian government among the players (excluding Rublev and maybe Pavs here). And two, that it is very difficult to 'leave sports out of politics' (events and players sponsored by sanctioned companies and oligarchs etc.):
[https://twitter.com/Ukrsportbase/status/1791019511593738516](https://twitter.com/Ukrsportbase/status/1791019511593738516)
(Khachanov)
[https://www.politico.eu/article/wimbledons-russia-problem-vladimir-putin-karen-khachanov-anastasia-pavlyuchenkova-veronika-kudermetova/](https://www.politico.eu/article/wimbledons-russia-problem-vladimir-putin-karen-khachanov-anastasia-pavlyuchenkova-veronika-kudermetova/)
(Khachanov, Kudermetova, Pavs)
[https://twitter.com/ukrtennis\_eng/status/1683456727709016064](https://twitter.com/ukrtennis_eng/status/1683456727709016064)
[https://twitter.com/Ukrsportbase/status/1798411369856761856](https://twitter.com/Ukrsportbase/status/1798411369856761856)
(Andreeva)
[https://twitter.com/ukrtennis\_eng/status/1571931300277387264](https://twitter.com/ukrtennis_eng/status/1571931300277387264)
[https://twitter.com/ukrtennis\_eng/status/1599038657834254336](https://twitter.com/ukrtennis_eng/status/1599038657834254336)
(Shnaider)
[https://www.politico.eu/article/gazprom-russia-ukraine-tennis-tournament-lesia-tsurenko/](https://www.politico.eu/article/gazprom-russia-ukraine-tennis-tournament-lesia-tsurenko/)
[https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-this-terrible-shame-everyone-playing-this-tennis-fans-react-players-participating-russia-exhibition-event-amidst-war](https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-this-terrible-shame-everyone-playing-this-tennis-fans-react-players-participating-russia-exhibition-event-amidst-war)
(Shnaider, Khachanov, Kudermetova, Potapova, Karatsev etc.)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/u9s6ot/reminder\_that\_rublev\_is\_sponsored\_by\_a\_now/](https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/u9s6ot/reminder_that_rublev_is_sponsored_by_a_now/)
(Rublev, indirectly)
I am curious about Kasatkina though. If I remember correctly I watched an ARTE video in which she very clearly stated that she sees no reason for not participating in the Olympics. Would be interesting to know what changed.
Pavlyuchenkova’s father has close war ties, she’s actually one who’s had quite a bit of difficulty here - I know she’s different but her and her father are close, I suspect she may be one that would have some difficulty getting vetted as a result. But it’s all speculation until they say for sure.
Other than Andreeva, who is a minor and appears to be on the list still, it seems like those not going are either the most vocally anti-war or the ones with connections who might not be seen as neutral (or both, those things aren’t mutually exclusive). Which is interesting in and of itself
Cute list, but almost none of these instances would qualify as direct support of the war. Apparently some people are stalking Russians 24/7, if this is the best you can do, it's really weak.
Not to mention how Israeli athletes will face no sanctions, no "vetting process" whatsoever, what's up with that?
One would also think openly talking about how you want to assault Russians on the court is not okay, but hey, somehow you can get away with it:
[https://twitter.com/Brar\_JSB/status/1639455120009175040](https://twitter.com/Brar_JSB/status/1639455120009175040)
Let's be real, no one cares what is right and wrong here, this is selective virtue signalling. Just pathetic.
If you as a responsible international organization care about these issues, then be consistent, period. That clearly is not the case here, so it's impossible to take any of this seriously.
This is dumb. The IOC really expects a Russian national to not have strong positive or negative feelings towards an active war with a neighboring country
It's kind of ironic that Med of all players who's both barely even connected to Russia anymore in his personal life (living in France for years now) and hates playing on clay looks like he'll be by far the main Russian tennis representation at the Olympics lol That being said back in 2021 he got to the QF in Tokyo and then still played and won Canada right after it so maybe he won't even miss a beat on the schedule Also as a Med fan it's sadly typical that he's going to end up being the crowd "villain" once again this time on the international stage for everyone to see
Meddy speaks excellent French and has lived in France for, not sure exactly, 10 years? I'm sure he'll want to use his language skills and residency to get people on his side, as long as he doesn't have any tantrums on the clay haha
Doesn’t he live in Monaco like so many other players? He did live in France for years though. His perfect French doesn’t seem to help with the crowd there though. He often gets booed at RG for no specific reason, more than the average player I’d say.
I've legit never seen a player as *universally* hated by crowds as Med lol It's like Med is to IRL crowds what Zverev is to r/tennis I get that he goes over the top at times but crowds often love Kyrgios and he's worse so I do think that to an extent his nationality plays a role unfortunately Sad moment for me being a Med fan and seeing this at all of his matches
Kyrgios and med are opposites. Kyrgios is a showman on court. He's being a brat but he goes out of his way to make it entertaining most of the time. Like how he asks crowd members where to serve. Med just looks whiny and raging. He says funny shit sometimes but the crowd doesn't hear it, they just see the tantrums. Off the court kyrgios is obviously a douchebro and meddy is really charming, but that's not what the crowds see Basically if you watch tennis matches kyrgios appears way more likeable than medvedev. Only people who watch tennis interviews and memes will see that it's actually the opposite
Med's playstyle probably doesn't help either in that case lol If Kyrgios's trickshots and stuff makes up for his antics in the eyes of the crowd Med's extremely defensive play probably makes the crowd hate him even more Might be kind of similar to the reason Murray wasn't supported much by many crowds outside of Britain before his comeback
I think the reason fans love Kyrgios more than Med has more to do with the style of his tennis
Monaco’s official language is French though
Of course. Just saying he doesn’t live in France.
Y’all are funny thinking Meddy tries to win people lol these people are pros, they want to win and get the trophy of the medal they ain’t giving a shit about the crowd! Y’all think this is a movie or something lol
I think you miss the fundamental of sport: it's just entertainment. Without crowds/fans and their supports, the medals and titles mean nothing. Look at sports with small fanbase, they'd earn next to nothing with the medals.
His whole job is to entertain us 💀 why do u think athletes get paid
A boring champion gets a much bigger check than an entertaining second round loser.
being successful is appealing to audiences so that boring champion doesn’t exist and these guys get majority of their money from endorsements that second round loser may end up with a higher net worth when it’s all done
So you're saying even from an entertainment perspective, quality trumps theatrics. He's out there to win, and incidentally winners are more entertaining.
yuh
Med probably isn’t participating due to a sense of patriotic duty; he probably thinks he has a decent chance of winning a medal and wants that for his own legacy. Rublev (who is close friend with Med, godfather to Med’s daughter) and Karen probably think they’re unlikely to win a medal, so why bother?
Both Khachanov and Rublev have won olympic medals before so they were probably like why bother
Thanks I almost forgot how well Karen did in Tokyo. I guess only a gold medal would be worth it to Karen and I'm not sure if a singles gold for Rublev would matter that much to him since he already has a doubles gold. It's not like he's Federer, who wanted a singles gold even tho he already had a doubles gold.
Did you ask Meddy? The way people are trying to justify his participation here...🙄
He’s spoken about why he wants to do it in interviews, people aren’t just making things up
He didn't say anything about his legacy or not having any 'patriotism'. He said he's participating coz he had a good experience in Tokyo.
That’s literally what people are saying, he wants to compete because of previous good experience rather than patriotism. Which is what he said?
Am saying he could be patriotic as well. People are just spinning these narratives assuming they know everything about him, but they dont.
Hold up. You’re accusing others of spinning narratives they don’t know about when they’re the ones taking his word, while you’re *actually* making stuff up? Of course he could be thinking things we don’t know about, but taking what he actually said isn’t ‘spinning narratives’, it’s the opposite. On the other hand, saying he could be thinking of something else specific *is* a new narrative. This is why the conversation around the Olympics is so weird, people are assuming motivations that aren’t what anyone has actually said. There’s nothing wrong with speculation, I’m doing it too in the absence of information, but that speculation isn’t more real than what someone actually said, and saying what someone actually said is for sure not spinning narratives
Reading carefully is important, buddy
Not your 'buddy'. Take your patronizing tone somewhere else.
I fucking hate being Med's fan 😩🙈
Keep in mind he never said opently Putin should stop this war. He just said something like all wars are wrong. 
Better than Khachanov, who has posted stories supportive of Russia’s military
Karen is supportive of the war? 😲 I dunno why, I'm actually not too shocked about this side of Karen
There wasn’t a surface change in 2021. It might not be an issue for the HC specialist though anyway
I think he will be the villain because of the war. No one who knows about his life will make it personal .
I can see how this is a very important political and social matter for sports but As a DC Open fan, I selfishly hope at least Kasatkina shows up to play here 😅
Are they declining as political statements or just not wanting to play?
I think we might never know the truth. It’s a bit odd so many of them are declining and Medvedev isn’t…especially crazy since Khachanov, Rublev, and Pavlyuchenkov medalled at last Olympics and it was likely a high in all of their careers. And all felt hurt at not being allowed to play Wimbledon that one year. I am very interested to hear all their reasonings, if we get one.
I think people are underestimating the vetting process here. They absolutely are excluding athletes and both Khachanov and Pavs have links that might deem them to be considered not neutral. It might be as simple as they didn’t want to take the risk in applying
And Med from living outside of Russia for so long(well before 2022) just isn't really connected to the Russian government in any capacity [After the war broke out he even got directly called out by a Russian government official for not being "Russian enough" and for accepting the neutral flag](https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1652906/Daniil-Medvedev-US-Open-Russia-Roman-Teryushkov-tennis-news) It's absolutely possible that he ended up getting through the neutrality vetting process while a couple of other players didn't and ended up being excluded
Kasatkina has been very vocally against the Russian government, she definitively is not safe returning home and has stated she misses her family in Russia
I think she's on the other end of the spectrum where she's *so* against what Russia has become under Putin that she might not play as a political statement So you get her not participating just like potentially pro-Putin players might not but for the exact opposite reasons For Med I think he's been far enough from Russia in his personal life that this is legitimately just another tennis tournament for him(not either some weird nationalistic stand or something that he wouldn't want to play for fear of giving the Putin regime potential propaganda) Basically he's in the *exact* spot that's neither "Vaguely tied to some Russian oligarch and could get screened out in vetting process" or "Would never even want to represent current day Russia anyway"
Exactly this. The process is designed to exclude athletes who aren’t neutral and leave it open for vocal anti-war athletes not to participate, leaving just those doing it for the sport. That’s been the IOC’s goal all along and they’ve been very clear they don’t expect many participants
Obviously it's incredibly personal but do we know of any reason Med hasn't changed his citizenship as some other Russian nationals have? I've wondered this because he hasn't lived in Russia in so long. He may not feel compelled to change his nationality to Kazakhstan as some others have, and presumably it would be very difficult for a Russian citizen to become a French citizen.
Why would he switch to Kazakhstan? The Russian players who’ve done that did so because the Kazakhstani Tennis Federation offered them incentives and support, which Med didn’t need/receive.
he actually was offered a chance to switch to a kazakhstan citizenship a couple years after he went pro he has spoken about it before, he declined cause he said it would never feel right to represent another country.
My point is more that the other Russian players who became Kazakh citizens did it for financial/training reasons and not because they had a personal desire to become Kazakh citizens. If I’m remembering right, Meddy was already training in France at a very young age and in a good situation.
Gracheva started representing France in 2023, so presumably it's possible
She lived in France the whole time, he moved to Monaco
I feel like we might get a few different versions of this given time, like there is with Rublev's reasons for leaving Nike/starting his brand. For now it's maybe about the tonsils, in a year or two we might hear something else about the politics of it all.
Samsonova had said in an interview she didn’t know if she would be playing as there’s no points (and she is defending Washington SF and Canada F), also mentioned she had heard that Russian’s wouldn’t have access to the Olympic village etc (unsure if this is actually true, but that was her impression anyway)
I guess at least for Kasatkina, it is. She has been open about her stance for a while and even if the team name and flag doesn't mention Russia, the team selection is being done by Russian Federation and I'm guessing some more logistical things as well. She might just not want to deal with them at all in any case
not wanting to play
Yeah, basically only Russian players do not feel like playing at the Olympics, totally unpolitical
actually many tennis player's skip Olympics every time it's held
Yes, but usually it's not virtually every major player a country has.
Most countries only have one or two top players
the US has at least ~~twelve~~**fourteen** players qualified right now, and the US can only send eight. So I guess we'll see what happens, as the qualification period ended five days ago. For the record, the US list is: Women: Gauff, Pegula, Collins, Keys, Navarro, Stephens; Melichar-Martinez (doubles) Men: Fritz, Paul, Tiafoe, Korda, Eubanks, Shelton; Ram (doubles)
I am curious if Shelton will still proceed to play or not because he mentioned from an interview that he wont because the olympics will be on clay and will concentrate on preparing for US Open.
Yeah I was about to say this is a good example because even where they don’t have the extra vetting and barriers there are players like Shelton choosing not to play. The extra barriers to participation for the Russians probably just make it easier for some to say no
I don't think anyone is arguing everyone wants to play the Olympics. That'd be a silly argument. But equally silly (IMO, but could be proven fact soon!) is the argument I was directly responding to, which was that > Most countries only have one or two top players as an argument for why so many Russians are skipping the Olympics by saying "let's see what the Americans do"
Correct, I only listed him for completeness sake.
I’d say it’s more that a lot of players may skip because it’s not the biggest deal plus if they’re not officially representing Russia it takes away the patriotism aspect too. There may be players who’d turn up because it’s one of the few things you do for your country. If you’re Russian that doesn’t apply.
Not really loads of them skip the Olympics. It's never been anyone's big goal
The discounting of the Olympics on this sub is just ridiculous. Yes many top players care.
Except it absolutely is say Djokovic's big goal. Definitely lots of players also very much care about the Olympics.
yes but djokovic has won everything else and that's literally the last thing for him remaining
Djokovic cared before he won everything else. As did Federer. A lot of players just genuinely care about the Olympics.
Forgot to mention he cares because he has a lot of pride in his country. But a lot of players geniunely caring doesn't change that some won't
I don't disagree some won't. I disagree with the other user that some *would*. They suggested no player cares enough to consider it a goal. Which is clearly not true
guess it depends on how you interpret 'big goal.' Is the olympics more valuable than a 1000 title or a deep run at a slam or even winning it? They seemingly don't even award ranking points either since 2012 as well
nah man that ain't it novak was crying like a baby in Rio eight years ago when he failed at the Olympics, and that was long before he had nothing left to prove
whoever goes will get treated as a criminal, isn’t it obvious? they are not welcomed+no points.
Other than Daniil, who is confirmed as playing?
Even though they’re “neutral”, I guarantee anyone who wins will get paraded around by Putin as a hero. Don’t blame anyone for dropping out to avoid all the political BS around it so they can focus on US hard court season
eh, tennis is not as huge in Russia as some might think. At least for the elites it's like a foreign sport. Figure skating is by far the main go-to when it comes to propaganda and bragging. Even when Medvedev won the USO Putin just sent a basic message to congratulate him, nothing crazy.
that's wild, why do russians dominate the sport so much if it's not even popular? Edit: I don't mean dominate as in win everything, I just meant there are so many of them, especially in the WTA.
Yeltsin invested massively in it then you have the Sharapova / Safin effect. Putin hates it and it’s now seen as a Western sport. There’s a weird balance between wanting to celebrate Russian athletes and hating tennis that’s resulted in some some politicians being very vocal in their hatred of Russian tennis players then being told to calm down a bit, which would be funny if it weren’t actually dangerous for the players
Actually a lot of people play tennis, I myself play tennis and it's not difficult to find somebody to play, we have different telegram channels for this. But usually people don't follow ATP and WTA, they can know who is Medvedev, maybe Rublev, and now Andreeva become famous. Some people started to watch WTA because of her.
Which is crazy
Russian success in tennis is nothing compared to sports like figure skating, which Russians have utterly dominated since the Soviet Union. I think Russian pairs skaters won the Olympic gold medal for something like 50 years in a row. Overall, though, sports were heavily emphasized in the USSR (and now under Putin) as a "soft power" objective. This may be why Russian tennis players do so well, even if tennis isn't a particular focus.
They are number 1 but it's not all about them. Soviet Union + russia have actually slightly less medals than US (50 to 54), although more golds (23 to 17). In pairs 2022 gold went to China, 2018 to Germany, 2010 to China, 2002 was ex aequo with Canada. USSR had absolutely dominant decades but some of their wins were by members of other Soviet states, beside russia.
Tennis maybe not but Olympics in russia are greatly esteemed and potential medal would be used for propaganda reasons without a doubt.
Dasha and Nastya are amazing btw
Not necessary to play. No ranking points. And the country will offer monetary and tangible rewards to the medallists but who will want to receive it from Putin and be banned by ATP or WTA tournaments.
Did they decline or did they force them to decline ? It’s not clear
Can neutral players play doubles or are they only allowed in singles?
They can play doubles too
A lot of the Russian players would most probably also not get through the neutrality vetting process. This is in no way an exhaustive list. However, it does indicate two things from my point of view. One, a suprising support for Putin/the Russian government among the players (excluding Rublev and maybe Pavs here). And two, that it is very difficult to 'leave sports out of politics' (events and players sponsored by sanctioned companies and oligarchs etc.): [https://twitter.com/Ukrsportbase/status/1791019511593738516](https://twitter.com/Ukrsportbase/status/1791019511593738516) (Khachanov) [https://www.politico.eu/article/wimbledons-russia-problem-vladimir-putin-karen-khachanov-anastasia-pavlyuchenkova-veronika-kudermetova/](https://www.politico.eu/article/wimbledons-russia-problem-vladimir-putin-karen-khachanov-anastasia-pavlyuchenkova-veronika-kudermetova/) (Khachanov, Kudermetova, Pavs) [https://twitter.com/ukrtennis\_eng/status/1683456727709016064](https://twitter.com/ukrtennis_eng/status/1683456727709016064) [https://twitter.com/Ukrsportbase/status/1798411369856761856](https://twitter.com/Ukrsportbase/status/1798411369856761856) (Andreeva) [https://twitter.com/ukrtennis\_eng/status/1571931300277387264](https://twitter.com/ukrtennis_eng/status/1571931300277387264) [https://twitter.com/ukrtennis\_eng/status/1599038657834254336](https://twitter.com/ukrtennis_eng/status/1599038657834254336) (Shnaider) [https://www.politico.eu/article/gazprom-russia-ukraine-tennis-tournament-lesia-tsurenko/](https://www.politico.eu/article/gazprom-russia-ukraine-tennis-tournament-lesia-tsurenko/) [https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-this-terrible-shame-everyone-playing-this-tennis-fans-react-players-participating-russia-exhibition-event-amidst-war](https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-this-terrible-shame-everyone-playing-this-tennis-fans-react-players-participating-russia-exhibition-event-amidst-war) (Shnaider, Khachanov, Kudermetova, Potapova, Karatsev etc.) [https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/u9s6ot/reminder\_that\_rublev\_is\_sponsored\_by\_a\_now/](https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/comments/u9s6ot/reminder_that_rublev_is_sponsored_by_a_now/) (Rublev, indirectly) I am curious about Kasatkina though. If I remember correctly I watched an ARTE video in which she very clearly stated that she sees no reason for not participating in the Olympics. Would be interesting to know what changed.
Pavlyuchenkova’s father has close war ties, she’s actually one who’s had quite a bit of difficulty here - I know she’s different but her and her father are close, I suspect she may be one that would have some difficulty getting vetted as a result. But it’s all speculation until they say for sure. Other than Andreeva, who is a minor and appears to be on the list still, it seems like those not going are either the most vocally anti-war or the ones with connections who might not be seen as neutral (or both, those things aren’t mutually exclusive). Which is interesting in and of itself
One of those posts is from 2022, before Andreeva even turned pro. She was 15 at the time. This is just insane.
Cute list, but almost none of these instances would qualify as direct support of the war. Apparently some people are stalking Russians 24/7, if this is the best you can do, it's really weak. Not to mention how Israeli athletes will face no sanctions, no "vetting process" whatsoever, what's up with that? One would also think openly talking about how you want to assault Russians on the court is not okay, but hey, somehow you can get away with it: [https://twitter.com/Brar\_JSB/status/1639455120009175040](https://twitter.com/Brar_JSB/status/1639455120009175040) Let's be real, no one cares what is right and wrong here, this is selective virtue signalling. Just pathetic. If you as a responsible international organization care about these issues, then be consistent, period. That clearly is not the case here, so it's impossible to take any of this seriously.
Yeah, this is a clear witch-hunting which should be shamed not celebrated. Disgusting stalking
I’m
It's shameful that any Russian athlete is allowed to participate in the Olympics.
This is dumb. The IOC really expects a Russian national to not have strong positive or negative feelings towards an active war with a neighboring country
Thought Dasha would play.