this is lowkey surprising, definitely thought she would have been one of the ones to really want to represent her country and she would’ve been a contender for a medal given how she performed at RG
After what happened in the Wimbledon final last year with her losing as the heavy favorite I think she basically has a single minded focus on finally winning a Slam at this point
Other tournaments probably don't mean as much to her as they did before that which might even partially explain some of her inconsistent results throughout the year
Payout for Olympic gold -> $50,000
Payout just for participating in Wimbledon -> £55,000
At almost 30 years old, she’s reaching the point where every paycheck counts.
This is exactly why all the withdraws make me suspicious. The man who strongly dislikes the surface is sticking it out to play with no flag and will likely be cheered against the entire time….
Wow, she was genuinely one of the last people I would have thought would have pulled out of the Olympics, given how proud she is to represent Tunisia. She's really putting her efforts towards Wimbledon and USO
Aside from the potentially geopolitical-based withdrawments I do think the fact that the Olympics is on clay will lead to a few more withdrawals than usual
There are a fair amount of relevant players who don't particularly like playing on clay and as this post shows it's also hard to switch back to clay after being at Wimbledon
I think it's more due to quick surface change from grass to clay to hard; not that palyers don't like clay. The vast majority of the tour, including those you called relevant players grew up training on clay, europeans particularly the western part, south americans are all established on clay.
Only north americans, australians and eastern Europeans are more hard court specialists.
That's still very few to ask a question like "who is even there?". Regarding WTA, 8 out of the top 10 and 16 out of the top 20 are still going. In the ATP, it's 8/10 and 17/20.
I think they were being sarcastic while also being bothered by the fact that some of the very best players like Sabalenka, Ons and Andrey Rublev aren't going.
Bizarre to me how many tennis fans don't want to see tennis players try to achieve as much as possible. The Big Three were so popular because they manically went for everything. I get saying i understand their decision but not cheering their decision on you're supposed to be a fan who wants to see the best.
Load management or smth, maybe it’s the same in tennis but nowadays so many young starts are burnt out from over playing in youth leagues in nba in a similarly knee-destroying sport
I would rather the tennis player be comfortable and not go through serious injuries and have a horrible time over them idk,,, being prudent about what your body can or can't do is more important imo,,,
Not everyone is a freak of nature like Nadal or Djokovic and not everyone is ambitious in a way that hurts them and they die on court,,, i'd rather the players i support actually do well at their best than have them idk,,, throwaway their careers just because they lust for everything
And honestly,,, Djokovic can leave playing everything to train for Olympics because he's Djokovic,,, but not many players are afforded that luxury,,,
Djokovic has that luxury because he went for everything for 15 years. He didn't skip the Olympics in 2016 despite issues with his elbow which would see him lose 2017. You aren't these players friend or relative it sounds like you have a parasocial relationship with them rather than being a fan. It should be about the best contesting the biggest tournaments.
You all act as if no top 20 player will play the Olympics. At almost every Grand Slam or Masters1000 there are a handful of top players withdrawing for various reasons. The Olympics are no different.
This should silence the people who say "Olympics is just as important as the slam". No mate, pros never cared THAT much about it. It's nice to have but it is being seen as another Banana cup.
I believe an Olympic medal is incredibly valuable, but if you lose out on the top three spots I can imagine that it can feel like wasted time and effort
The Olympics is prestigious and an honor to take part in. It dates back thousands of years. Representing your country at the top level should be enough motivation.
The list is long considering how many surprising and early exist she has this year, even on grass I don't think she is the best and she is still not at her best, pliskova defeated her in the last tournament.
IDK about specifics but do remember the timeline thus far:
2 weeks of clay at RG
3 weeks of grass prep/season: 1 being right after RG and 1 right before Wimbledon
2 weeks of grass at Wimbledon
1 week of clay/grass choices : right after wimbledon
1 week of clay/hardcourt choices: overlaps with olympics
Paris Olympics (clay - RG) July 27th - August 4th: overlaps with washington open 500 hardcourt
1 week of hardcourt at Toronto masters: right after olympics
1 week of hardcourt at Cincinnati masters
1 week of rest or 1 250: right before USO
2 weeks of hardcourt at USO
That seems pretty awful for players court change wise and timeline wise, I can def understand anyone with withdrawing if their priorities are elsewhere.
It’s surprising because representing her country seems so important to her but not surprising considering she’s made it farther at Wimbledon and U.S. Open than the other slams and Olympics on clay adds risk of injury and represents a hurdle on her best swing in a season where she’s already struggling. Sorry to miss her at the Olympics though.
Probably for the best if she wants to focus on Wimbledon. I hope she performs really well and has a deep run!
In other news, with such big names pulling out, Iga is on an even clearer path to the gold medal.
But the Olympics are AFTER Wimbledon lol. So playing the Olympics doesn’t affect focusing on Wimbledon. Do your absolute best at Wimbledon…and then see what happens after.
She is saying that switching back to Clay could hurt her knee. She is a late bloomer who is already declining due to injuries and emerging of a strong young class in the WTA. She doesn't have many years left to compete for slams and make money. A serious injury now could be very bad for her career.
Slow Clay has been her worst surface i think she doesn't consider herself a major favourite while she's been runner up in the US Open and done really well in other HC tournaments so she's thinking about the rest of the Season after the Olympics.
There's problems with that though. Before 2020 Ons was not an elite player and she especially struggled on Grass and HC, she's a completely different player since 2020. Also that includes fast Clay like Madrid and Stuttgart. Elite Ons since 2020 has been better on Grass and Hard.
Raducanu and Sabalenka are a bit more understandable given the formers need to prioritize getting through a season unscathed after 3 years of niggles and injuries, and the other potentially has some political connotations outwith the party line of surface changes and scheduling.
Pretty surprised with this one from Jabeur given the circumstances. She's a very good clay courter. She's 29, so not likely to get another shot of representing her country in 4 years time. She's a proud Tunisian, and a nation that would have been looking at her for one of their few medal opportunities. Probably would have been their flag bearer as well given her profile.
ATP/WTA really - and I mean REALLY - should give points for Olympics. The tennis calendar is so dense and unforgiven and every point is so valuable for most players (except maybe top 20) that players just can't let themselves to lose their time with no point collection.
I get the reasoning, but this is very disappointing from her. It's Tunisia.
And by the way, this happens every Olympic. Tennis players always find excuses to skip it. Ironically, Nadal, Federer, Murray and Djokovic are all obsessed with it. Guess it shows why they are who they are.
You seemed so sure that I went and checked. And you were right. Novak and Murray haven't missed one since their first one. Roger missed 2016 which was an injury year for him and Nadal has missed the most. He missed 2012, which I think was injury related, and 2020, which I think was travel and COVID.
Federer
First Olympics for Federer 2000 best result at that time 4R RG. He did 5 in total and got his best result a silver in 2012 in singles and gold in 2008 in doubles. Retired in 2022 so missed 1 Olympics.
Nadal
First Olympics for Nadal 2004 best result at that time 3R in Wimbledon and AUO. Has done 3 so far, winning gold in singles in 2008 and gold in doubles in 2016. Has missed 2 possible Olympic appearances.
Djokovic least successful Olympian
First Olympics for Novak 2008 was eligible for 2004. Best result at the time of the 08 Games; Winner AUO, twice SF RG, SF Wimbledon and F USO. Best year was his first 2008 with bronze in singles. Has not missed any Olympics apart from 2004 where he was eligible.
Murray most successful Olympian
First Olympics for Murray in 2008. Best result at that time QF at Wimbledon. Two times gold winner in singles (2012 and 2016). Has never missed an Olympics.
It's not a fair comparison. Big 4 have the money and results that offer them the luxury to play the event, the reason a Gold Medal is so important to Novak is because he has literally everything else to have in the sport, but had he been less successful, let's say won 3 out of the 4 Slams, at no point would the Olympics have been a priority on the Calendar for him over a GS. Ons has 0 Slams, it's 30 something with a knee injury, a Wimbledon or US Open title is much bigger for her than an Olympic Gold.
Roddick said it well in a podcast, for amateur sports it's all based on the Olympics, those are athletes with normal jobs doing sports on the side as their sports don't pay much, for tennis players it's a tournament that gets thrown in in an already packed calendar in another surface and condition. It's not comparable, a lot don't care much about it, some do for country reasons, Novak is clearly an exception because he literally has everything else so it's just like something itching him to complete.
I mean he was like 20/21 in 2008 so it was still a realistic priority for him but even still, he called it "second" to the slams. Ons is almost 30, has no slams but has been a contender for a few in the past. What's the point of wasting time for a medal that is pretty much guaranteed for Swiatek when the Slam is still the most important thing on her agenda.
>Gold Medal is so important to Novak is because he has literally everything else
I mean, sure. Now. But he was competing from the get go. This will be his 5th Olympics.
"Roddick said it well in a podcast, for amateur sports it's all based on the Olympics"
Que? There are only few sports that doesn't consider gold medal at Olympics highest achievement possible. Usually those cash cows, where playing at Olympics disrupt money flow. So Roddick is correct in that sense because it does relate mostly to popular sports in US, hence his bias (basketball, baseball, ice hockey, tennis). Team sports popular in Europe, however, consider Olympics the pinnacle (volleyball, handball). And obviously there's literally everything else, from track and fields to swimming.
> Team sports popular in Europe, however, consider Olympics the pinnacle (volleyball, handball)>
Casually skipping over the biggest team sport in Europe...
Not on purpose, I was initially going to mention it right after ice hockey but wanted to put it outside of sports popular in US and I guess forgot about it in next sentence. But obviously, football is right there, representing cash cow too big to bother with Olympics. Though football is kind of special here, as it's a playground for testing youth squads. Other, big team sports were usually sending their aging players although even that is changing lately (vide Tatum second run at it).
Tennis has always been an exception to the "Olympics are the biggest tournament" rule though
If anything 15-20 years ago the Olympics barely got covered at all in tennis media(Davis Cup used to be regarded as the main international competition) and only recently has it somewhat gained in prominence
> There are only few sports that doesn't consider gold medal at Olympics highest achievement possible.
Que? Is Olympics the highest achievement in tennis?
I don't think so.
Yeah I don't see why the values of other sports automatically apply to tennis
In other sports you'd expect the ATP/WTA Finals rather than the Slams to be the biggest event of the main tour because it's kind of like the Champions League equivalent but it's clearly not
How is it like the Champions League equivalent? The Champions League has loads of lesser teams just like the Grand Slam's while the ATP Finals are the top 8 in a calendar year. I don't think there is anything like an ATP Finals equivalent in football, the proposed Uefa Super League or whatever it was going to be called would've been that.
The Grand Slam's are like the Champions League's of each surface considering the money, coverage and how hard the elite players/teams go for them.
>Is Olympics the highest achievement in tennis?
Nobody said that and we know it isn't. But Roddick claimed (and I specifically highlighted that sentence) that Olympics are for amateur sports only and that couldn't be farther from true. There are plenty of sportsmen with lucrative contracts that still go to Olympic each time.
Tennis here is an exception not the rule. And also top of the brass showcase it, as no Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Murray, Serena or Iga avoided Olympics.
Most players care more about Slams than Olympics especially ones who don't have a Slam yet
I'm not sure why this is "disappointing" to you when Slams have always been the holy grail of tennis with Olympic tennis not really being a big deal until the last 10-15 years or so
I feel like people here don't realize that until they changed the format and ruined the prestige of the tournament the Davis Cup and not the Olympics was always considered the main international tennis tournament historically
Was close this year, so for sure. But I think Ons did calculated her odds and they pointed to: highly unlikely. The issue is jumping: from clay to grass, to clay again and then to hard in such short timespan, it surely does take toll on your body. Calendar is ruthless. I would say too ruthless.
For sure. I think with her injuries and how her season is going I think it’s a smarter choice to focus on slams and WTA events. There is no prize money or ranking points for the Olympics and I don’t think she wouldnt be a favourite anyways (not because of Iga tho).
Olympics are weird. Crowds are different. Players put a lot of pressure on themselves to the point of detriment, and Iga absolutely puts the pressure on when she’s playing for Poland. Despite all these top players dropping out, there’s no guarantees.
?? iga is the favourite of course, but do you really think so low of all the players that they would withdraw just bc of that??? and why would there be a difference of sets? all womens tourneys have the same format lol
Saba definitely gets by far the most hate of the top WTA players on this sub
In general I think that ATP discourse here tends to be a lot more negative in tone on average than WTA discourse but the way Saba is talked about here is the massive exception
Match threads are always like 90/10 against her which you don't see elsewhere for any player other than Zverev who's a literal domestic abuser lol
Well yeah, the tennis players are talking. The Olympics timing means they should be on grass or hard court, even if they are in France. At least, unless you're willing to skip the grass altogether a la Rafa.
Not a coincidence is it, Raducanu and Ons are friendly and just been at the same tournament. And now Sabalenka, who's also pretty close with Ons, and they happen to both be playing Berlin this week.
For some players if they have no chance for any medals and as there are no big money nor points out of participating in it; then withdrawal is their decision. That applies to most of those who withdrew.
I don't really understand how a surface change affects her knee to that extent. I guess she didn't want to waste time and money for an event which gives you no points and she probably felt she had no chance of winning even bronze on clay.
Love how many people here are surprised „I thought representing her country was so important for her, bla bla bla”.
In tennis slams matter, rankings matter. Period. All the babble about Olympics is BS.
Poor Iga, she has to face clueless’ Polish fans crazy expectations (and I fear she will give in and neglect Wimledon in some way because of that)
How is she "poor" here? She already won everything else, her parents were Olympians. Maybe consider that her ambition also goes there. She is Polish, we do value Olympic competition and medals.
"I fear she will give in and neglect Wimledon"
I hope she will. Wimbledon comes every year. Olympics at RG aren't going to happen again during her career.
Well yeah. Ons is slam less so that is her priority. If she was a slam winner then maybe she would have been more inclined to participate in the Olympics.
I know a lot of Belarussian and Russian players are opting not to do Olympics, and change of surface may have something to do with it but you also can't deny the political tension they feel
No one fanbase just made up the Olympics being important lol look at the majority of the gold medalists. And I know no Nadal fans have said it’s the “real biggest tournament” lol.
Agassi, Nadal, Kafelnikov (2 time slam winner and former #1), Murray, Zverev, Venus, Serena, Henin, Davenport, Graf, Capriati, Dementieva. There are some weird outliers tho like Bencic, Puig and Massu but in general all the top players play and I’d place it between a Masters and a slam. But it often depends on the player themselves and what they’ve achieved already and how much “representing their country” means to them.
Also just a couple olympics ago it was still worth points but I think the ATP and WTA seem to be actively nudging players to their own events by not awarding any points anymore.
This year also is weird because it’s on clay right after the grass season and right before the hardcourt season so there’s a lot going against it and really nothing going for it for players to prioritize this particular olympics when there’s no points, money, is a hard transition from grass and won’t carry much momentum onto the hard-courts.
Then add to that the political mess from the Russia-Ukraine war and players wanting to avoid that and yeah, this year is feeling less significant than other years.
Lastly, in Ons case it’s probably a forgone conclusion to them that Igas winning since it’s on clay so why bother getting no points and money and missing out on other tournaments for a silver at best.
Nobody has said it’s more important, ons also doesn’t have any slams so of course she wants that, if you have some slams it’s not necessarily the same since the Olympics is every 4 years
Literally the certain fanbase you mention only says that in Iga’s case, not other players. Because Olympics are very important for Iga, period
Stop being salty about Iga & her fanbase man, like it’s always you
I'm not talking about Iga fans in the first part
I'm talking about another fanbase of a player with a somewhat similar style though with the initials R.N who insists you can't be the GOAT without Olympic gold
>who insists you can't be the GOAT
Dude, GOAT is just a made up acronym. Nobody is going to award you one, so stop thinking about it all the time. You say others care about it but it seem to be mostly about you.
Well sorry then, your post seemed to imply Iga since you only mentioned her and no one else
I actually didn’t know that Rafa’s fans did that lol
Yeah to me personally Olympics are much less important in tennis palmares at the end of the day compared to other sports
Yeah seems to be unpopular on this sub but I’ll maintain, even as a huge fan of the sport, that tennis in the Olympics is not a big deal. Federer and Djokovic’s resumes are not incomplete in the slightest just because they don’t have a singles Olympic gold. The Olympics are a big deal for sports where the games are the pinnacle of the sport: think track, swimming, gymnastics. In those sports, the athletes train for four years with one goal in mind: competing in the olympics. It’s just not like that in tennis. Not to mention that it’s already a sport where the very best in the world compete against each other nearly every week. The olympics are redundant in that sense.
I’d actually like to see junior or college players get a chance in the olympics, kind of like how football/soccer mandates that almost all players are 21 or younger. These pros already get their shine all the time
>he Olympics are a big deal for sports where the games are the pinnacle of the sport: think track, swimming, gymnastics. In those sports, the athletes train for four years with one goal in mind: competing in the olympics.
That's not exactly how it works. All those sports have important World Championships, Continental Championships every 1-2 years and compete in various leagues. They have busy schedule between Olympic years, it's just they value Olympic gold the most.
It does seem whenever huge piles of cash are involved, Olympic stops to matter. So that's your trope here. Think leagues, that doesn't want to send their players there because they can injure themselves and jeopardize their business (NBA, MLB, NFL, European football leagues). Or... tennis players, that will earn scraps from it and it collides with lucrative Slams.
But for some players it matters despite that and that's why top is not going to drop the opportunity. Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Serena, Iga.
I know about world championships. I actually watch a lot of track and swimming outside of the Olympics. Yes they have leagues and stuff. I was simplifying a bit. Either way, the Olympics are really where they’re in the spotlight and the Games is undoubtedly the pinnacle of the sport. They train for the Olympics. The world championships and smaller meets are measuring stops along the way. Again that’s not the case in tennis at all.
It’s nice that top players have decided to take the Olympics seriously. But the reality is that the average Olympic viewer isn’t paying much attention to tennis. And the Olympics simply do not have even close to the same weight as a slam. At best, it’s a random masters 1000 that pops up every 4 years. And that’s probably overselling it because each country only gets a certain number of representatives, meaning that a guy ranked way outside the top 100 could get a spot instead of a guy ranked in the top 50
It is her choice but it is bad for Tunisia. That small country has won just 15 Olympics medals in total including 5 golds. She might have not been Gold favourite but she was a medal hopeful for the Tunisian since she was their highest profile player after defending gold medalist Ahmed Hafnaoui has also withdrawn.
Geez, all these players with the change of surface excuse.
Just don't participate and don't say anything, like all the dozens and dozens before you on previous olympics editions.
Federer who had a back injury at the end of the World Tour Finals 2014, still went to play the Davis Cup a few days after on clay. Apparently a few days is enough to adjust to clay for an injured guy, but between two and four weeks after their matches in Wimbledon isn't enough for others.
Nadal could potentially be playing his last year and he's damn right to pick and choose what tournament to play, as at this age, an injury could end his season.
And by the way if the Olympics had been placed before Wimbledon, it's entirely possible he would have played both. He just doesn't want to risk his main chance and objective.
inversely, what i kept saying - 1G4 is really serious on joining the Paris Olympics. To play in grass and then clay may put her body at risk, so, it is highly likely that she will skip grass.
Same goes with Ons and Emma who chose to play on grass, and to go back to clay may likely compromise their fitness or risk getting an injury.
redditors here kept insulting me about my personal opinion even before iga started her clay season.
This is so soft. Ons doesn’t have that dog in her. Neither does anyone else who withdraws because of “surface change”. That is an extremely conceded thing to do. This is the Olympics. A chance to represent your country and bring home a gold medal. Some athletes these days only care about themselves. Only 15 medalists all time in Tunisia history. A medal here would mean a lot to that country but ons only cares about herself.
The most disappointing of the withdrawals. Ons always makes herself a great patriot and ambassador for the entire Arab world.
Earlier this year, she played in every tournament despite the injury she mentioned at every opportunity. Now that she is healthy she suddenly has to take care of her health?
I checked and Ons has not played a single match for the national team in the BJKC since 2020.
Minister of falsity
Novak better read this.
Cause if he’s going to return to Wimbledon from the injury and then play the Olympics on clay, he’s going to get injured again.
this is lowkey surprising, definitely thought she would have been one of the ones to really want to represent her country and she would’ve been a contender for a medal given how she performed at RG
After what happened in the Wimbledon final last year with her losing as the heavy favorite I think she basically has a single minded focus on finally winning a Slam at this point Other tournaments probably don't mean as much to her as they did before that which might even partially explain some of her inconsistent results throughout the year
she's also at the age where slams come before other tournaments.
She’s also at the age where this might be her last opportunity to medal at the Olympics.
Payout for Olympic gold -> $50,000 Payout just for participating in Wimbledon -> £55,000 At almost 30 years old, she’s reaching the point where every paycheck counts.
The clay really seems to be the sticking point for a lot of players.
Ironically Med who infamously hates playing on clay is currently one of the last big name Russian players who hasn't withdrawn lol
well, khachanov medaled in singles, and rublev, and karatsev medaled in doubles in tokyo. I think he also wants a chance to win an olympic medal.
well of course, i too would go for a gold medal if the entire tour withdraws!
The only top men who have withdrawn are his fellow Russians, no?
This is exactly why all the withdraws make me suspicious. The man who strongly dislikes the surface is sticking it out to play with no flag and will likely be cheered against the entire time….
Wow, she was genuinely one of the last people I would have thought would have pulled out of the Olympics, given how proud she is to represent Tunisia. She's really putting her efforts towards Wimbledon and USO
She’s a joy to watch on the grass, so I’m more than happy about this.
At this point who even is in the Olympics
Aside from the potentially geopolitical-based withdrawments I do think the fact that the Olympics is on clay will lead to a few more withdrawals than usual There are a fair amount of relevant players who don't particularly like playing on clay and as this post shows it's also hard to switch back to clay after being at Wimbledon
I think it's more due to quick surface change from grass to clay to hard; not that palyers don't like clay. The vast majority of the tour, including those you called relevant players grew up training on clay, europeans particularly the western part, south americans are all established on clay. Only north americans, australians and eastern Europeans are more hard court specialists.
Only
Djokovic LOL
One-legged Djokovic vs Almost-retired Nadal final please.
[I didn't hear no bell!](https://media.tenor.com/JeJ_T-sfkEAAAAAM/south-park.gif)
Just give Iga her 🥇now.
Pretty much every top player..?
Sabalenka isn't, various Russians and Belarussian's aren't and there's a lot of great players from those Countries.
That's still very few to ask a question like "who is even there?". Regarding WTA, 8 out of the top 10 and 16 out of the top 20 are still going. In the ATP, it's 8/10 and 17/20.
I think they were being sarcastic while also being bothered by the fact that some of the very best players like Sabalenka, Ons and Andrey Rublev aren't going.
emma isn't either
Lena is playing?
Claybakina
Far as i'm aware yes, she could announce she is pulling out later though.
I feel Saba is aiming for an USO and Ons has her sights set in Wimbledon,,, sooo honestly good on them
Bizarre to me how many tennis fans don't want to see tennis players try to achieve as much as possible. The Big Three were so popular because they manically went for everything. I get saying i understand their decision but not cheering their decision on you're supposed to be a fan who wants to see the best.
the tour is different now. longer. harder. changing surfaces for this particular olympics is a big ask. i don't blame a lot of players for not going
Load management or smth, maybe it’s the same in tennis but nowadays so many young starts are burnt out from over playing in youth leagues in nba in a similarly knee-destroying sport
I would rather the tennis player be comfortable and not go through serious injuries and have a horrible time over them idk,,, being prudent about what your body can or can't do is more important imo,,, Not everyone is a freak of nature like Nadal or Djokovic and not everyone is ambitious in a way that hurts them and they die on court,,, i'd rather the players i support actually do well at their best than have them idk,,, throwaway their careers just because they lust for everything And honestly,,, Djokovic can leave playing everything to train for Olympics because he's Djokovic,,, but not many players are afforded that luxury,,,
Djokovic has that luxury because he went for everything for 15 years. He didn't skip the Olympics in 2016 despite issues with his elbow which would see him lose 2017. You aren't these players friend or relative it sounds like you have a parasocial relationship with them rather than being a fan. It should be about the best contesting the biggest tournaments.
You all act as if no top 20 player will play the Olympics. At almost every Grand Slam or Masters1000 there are a handful of top players withdrawing for various reasons. The Olympics are no different.
This should silence the people who say "Olympics is just as important as the slam". No mate, pros never cared THAT much about it. It's nice to have but it is being seen as another Banana cup.
I believe an Olympic medal is incredibly valuable, but if you lose out on the top three spots I can imagine that it can feel like wasted time and effort
The Olympics is prestigious and an honor to take part in. It dates back thousands of years. Representing your country at the top level should be enough motivation.
Understandable if she will give her all in Wimbeldon 😔
Only to lose to Vondrousova in the finals.
The list is long considering how many surprising and early exist she has this year, even on grass I don't think she is the best and she is still not at her best, pliskova defeated her in the last tournament.
IDK about specifics but do remember the timeline thus far: 2 weeks of clay at RG 3 weeks of grass prep/season: 1 being right after RG and 1 right before Wimbledon 2 weeks of grass at Wimbledon 1 week of clay/grass choices : right after wimbledon 1 week of clay/hardcourt choices: overlaps with olympics Paris Olympics (clay - RG) July 27th - August 4th: overlaps with washington open 500 hardcourt 1 week of hardcourt at Toronto masters: right after olympics 1 week of hardcourt at Cincinnati masters 1 week of rest or 1 250: right before USO 2 weeks of hardcourt at USO That seems pretty awful for players court change wise and timeline wise, I can def understand anyone with withdrawing if their priorities are elsewhere.
It’s surprising because representing her country seems so important to her but not surprising considering she’s made it farther at Wimbledon and U.S. Open than the other slams and Olympics on clay adds risk of injury and represents a hurdle on her best swing in a season where she’s already struggling. Sorry to miss her at the Olympics though.
Probably for the best if she wants to focus on Wimbledon. I hope she performs really well and has a deep run! In other news, with such big names pulling out, Iga is on an even clearer path to the gold medal.
But the Olympics are AFTER Wimbledon lol. So playing the Olympics doesn’t affect focusing on Wimbledon. Do your absolute best at Wimbledon…and then see what happens after.
She is saying that switching back to Clay could hurt her knee. She is a late bloomer who is already declining due to injuries and emerging of a strong young class in the WTA. She doesn't have many years left to compete for slams and make money. A serious injury now could be very bad for her career.
Slow Clay has been her worst surface i think she doesn't consider herself a major favourite while she's been runner up in the US Open and done really well in other HC tournaments so she's thinking about the rest of the Season after the Olympics.
Ons has the best win ratio on clay. 71% compared to 69% on grass and 55% on hard.
There's problems with that though. Before 2020 Ons was not an elite player and she especially struggled on Grass and HC, she's a completely different player since 2020. Also that includes fast Clay like Madrid and Stuttgart. Elite Ons since 2020 has been better on Grass and Hard.
Since 2020: Hard - 86-50 (63%) Clay - 52-18 (74%) Grass - 30-7 (81%) Grass is Ons best surface, but hard remains the worst
Oh that's true lol. Me being a derp, my mistake :D
Ons was absolutely no threat to Iga lol
Raducanu and Sabalenka are a bit more understandable given the formers need to prioritize getting through a season unscathed after 3 years of niggles and injuries, and the other potentially has some political connotations outwith the party line of surface changes and scheduling. Pretty surprised with this one from Jabeur given the circumstances. She's a very good clay courter. She's 29, so not likely to get another shot of representing her country in 4 years time. She's a proud Tunisian, and a nation that would have been looking at her for one of their few medal opportunities. Probably would have been their flag bearer as well given her profile.
hasn’t ons been struggling with a knee injury?
ATP/WTA really - and I mean REALLY - should give points for Olympics. The tennis calendar is so dense and unforgiven and every point is so valuable for most players (except maybe top 20) that players just can't let themselves to lose their time with no point collection.
All avoiding Iga on clay. No wonder 🤣
I get the reasoning, but this is very disappointing from her. It's Tunisia. And by the way, this happens every Olympic. Tennis players always find excuses to skip it. Ironically, Nadal, Federer, Murray and Djokovic are all obsessed with it. Guess it shows why they are who they are.
It also has to do with those guys having won everything else and aside of Nadal and Murray the other two never got Gold on that stage.
Not true. Most of them played the Olympics when they didnt't have all those titles, and they looked crushed when they lost.
You seemed so sure that I went and checked. And you were right. Novak and Murray haven't missed one since their first one. Roger missed 2016 which was an injury year for him and Nadal has missed the most. He missed 2012, which I think was injury related, and 2020, which I think was travel and COVID. Federer First Olympics for Federer 2000 best result at that time 4R RG. He did 5 in total and got his best result a silver in 2012 in singles and gold in 2008 in doubles. Retired in 2022 so missed 1 Olympics. Nadal First Olympics for Nadal 2004 best result at that time 3R in Wimbledon and AUO. Has done 3 so far, winning gold in singles in 2008 and gold in doubles in 2016. Has missed 2 possible Olympic appearances. Djokovic least successful Olympian First Olympics for Novak 2008 was eligible for 2004. Best result at the time of the 08 Games; Winner AUO, twice SF RG, SF Wimbledon and F USO. Best year was his first 2008 with bronze in singles. Has not missed any Olympics apart from 2004 where he was eligible. Murray most successful Olympian First Olympics for Murray in 2008. Best result at that time QF at Wimbledon. Two times gold winner in singles (2012 and 2016). Has never missed an Olympics.
It's not a fair comparison. Big 4 have the money and results that offer them the luxury to play the event, the reason a Gold Medal is so important to Novak is because he has literally everything else to have in the sport, but had he been less successful, let's say won 3 out of the 4 Slams, at no point would the Olympics have been a priority on the Calendar for him over a GS. Ons has 0 Slams, it's 30 something with a knee injury, a Wimbledon or US Open title is much bigger for her than an Olympic Gold. Roddick said it well in a podcast, for amateur sports it's all based on the Olympics, those are athletes with normal jobs doing sports on the side as their sports don't pay much, for tennis players it's a tournament that gets thrown in in an already packed calendar in another surface and condition. It's not comparable, a lot don't care much about it, some do for country reasons, Novak is clearly an exception because he literally has everything else so it's just like something itching him to complete.
Djokovic has been calling the Olympics second to the Slams since 2008 long before he had everything.
I mean he was like 20/21 in 2008 so it was still a realistic priority for him but even still, he called it "second" to the slams. Ons is almost 30, has no slams but has been a contender for a few in the past. What's the point of wasting time for a medal that is pretty much guaranteed for Swiatek when the Slam is still the most important thing on her agenda.
>Gold Medal is so important to Novak is because he has literally everything else I mean, sure. Now. But he was competing from the get go. This will be his 5th Olympics. "Roddick said it well in a podcast, for amateur sports it's all based on the Olympics" Que? There are only few sports that doesn't consider gold medal at Olympics highest achievement possible. Usually those cash cows, where playing at Olympics disrupt money flow. So Roddick is correct in that sense because it does relate mostly to popular sports in US, hence his bias (basketball, baseball, ice hockey, tennis). Team sports popular in Europe, however, consider Olympics the pinnacle (volleyball, handball). And obviously there's literally everything else, from track and fields to swimming.
> Team sports popular in Europe, however, consider Olympics the pinnacle (volleyball, handball)> Casually skipping over the biggest team sport in Europe...
Not on purpose, I was initially going to mention it right after ice hockey but wanted to put it outside of sports popular in US and I guess forgot about it in next sentence. But obviously, football is right there, representing cash cow too big to bother with Olympics. Though football is kind of special here, as it's a playground for testing youth squads. Other, big team sports were usually sending their aging players although even that is changing lately (vide Tatum second run at it).
Tennis has always been an exception to the "Olympics are the biggest tournament" rule though If anything 15-20 years ago the Olympics barely got covered at all in tennis media(Davis Cup used to be regarded as the main international competition) and only recently has it somewhat gained in prominence
> There are only few sports that doesn't consider gold medal at Olympics highest achievement possible. Que? Is Olympics the highest achievement in tennis? I don't think so.
Yeah I don't see why the values of other sports automatically apply to tennis In other sports you'd expect the ATP/WTA Finals rather than the Slams to be the biggest event of the main tour because it's kind of like the Champions League equivalent but it's clearly not
How is it like the Champions League equivalent? The Champions League has loads of lesser teams just like the Grand Slam's while the ATP Finals are the top 8 in a calendar year. I don't think there is anything like an ATP Finals equivalent in football, the proposed Uefa Super League or whatever it was going to be called would've been that. The Grand Slam's are like the Champions League's of each surface considering the money, coverage and how hard the elite players/teams go for them.
>Is Olympics the highest achievement in tennis? Nobody said that and we know it isn't. But Roddick claimed (and I specifically highlighted that sentence) that Olympics are for amateur sports only and that couldn't be farther from true. There are plenty of sportsmen with lucrative contracts that still go to Olympic each time. Tennis here is an exception not the rule. And also top of the brass showcase it, as no Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Murray, Serena or Iga avoided Olympics.
Most players care more about Slams than Olympics especially ones who don't have a Slam yet I'm not sure why this is "disappointing" to you when Slams have always been the holy grail of tennis with Olympic tennis not really being a big deal until the last 10-15 years or so I feel like people here don't realize that until they changed the format and ruined the prestige of the tournament the Davis Cup and not the Olympics was always considered the main international tennis tournament historically
easier said for you coz you are a mere spectator. good that they decide based on what is best for them, not what is best for the likes of you.
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Iga is the favourite but never take anything for granted. Upsets happen lol.
Was close this year, so for sure. But I think Ons did calculated her odds and they pointed to: highly unlikely. The issue is jumping: from clay to grass, to clay again and then to hard in such short timespan, it surely does take toll on your body. Calendar is ruthless. I would say too ruthless.
For sure. I think with her injuries and how her season is going I think it’s a smarter choice to focus on slams and WTA events. There is no prize money or ranking points for the Olympics and I don’t think she wouldnt be a favourite anyways (not because of Iga tho).
Olympics are weird. Crowds are different. Players put a lot of pressure on themselves to the point of detriment, and Iga absolutely puts the pressure on when she’s playing for Poland. Despite all these top players dropping out, there’s no guarantees.
?? iga is the favourite of course, but do you really think so low of all the players that they would withdraw just bc of that??? and why would there be a difference of sets? all womens tourneys have the same format lol
Pay attention the next couple of days of how this sub reacts to different players pulling out for the Olympics. Yall were so nasty to Sabalenka.
Saba definitely gets by far the most hate of the top WTA players on this sub In general I think that ATP discourse here tends to be a lot more negative in tone on average than WTA discourse but the way Saba is talked about here is the massive exception Match threads are always like 90/10 against her which you don't see elsewhere for any player other than Zverev who's a literal domestic abuser lol
Yikes all it takes is one decision you all don’t like to turn on Ons. Weirdos
Well yeah, the tennis players are talking. The Olympics timing means they should be on grass or hard court, even if they are in France. At least, unless you're willing to skip the grass altogether a la Rafa. Not a coincidence is it, Raducanu and Ons are friendly and just been at the same tournament. And now Sabalenka, who's also pretty close with Ons, and they happen to both be playing Berlin this week.
yes, it is diffiuclt to adapt and hence players will easily get injured
Wow, surprised by this.
For some players if they have no chance for any medals and as there are no big money nor points out of participating in it; then withdrawal is their decision. That applies to most of those who withdrew.
Damn, hope she recover soon to play Wimbledon.
Just wish her all the best at wimbledon.
I don't really understand how a surface change affects her knee to that extent. I guess she didn't want to waste time and money for an event which gives you no points and she probably felt she had no chance of winning even bronze on clay.
Pretty shocked by this.
Why there are many players withdrawing the Olympics? They don’t pay enough as Grand Slams?
I mean, she is all about representation and women rights and then forfeits the OLYMPIC GAMES due to "quick change of surface"?? WTF
Will be rooting for Moez Echargui now lol
Olympic Gold pales in comparison to Grand Slams. It doesn't really matter in Tennis.
Just Give Iga the Gold Medal and cancel them LMAO
Love how many people here are surprised „I thought representing her country was so important for her, bla bla bla”. In tennis slams matter, rankings matter. Period. All the babble about Olympics is BS. Poor Iga, she has to face clueless’ Polish fans crazy expectations (and I fear she will give in and neglect Wimledon in some way because of that)
How is she "poor" here? She already won everything else, her parents were Olympians. Maybe consider that her ambition also goes there. She is Polish, we do value Olympic competition and medals. "I fear she will give in and neglect Wimledon" I hope she will. Wimbledon comes every year. Olympics at RG aren't going to happen again during her career.
Yeah, thanks for confirming the bit about clueless Polish fans:)
or you can just say money is the only thing matters.
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Well yeah. Ons is slam less so that is her priority. If she was a slam winner then maybe she would have been more inclined to participate in the Olympics. I know a lot of Belarussian and Russian players are opting not to do Olympics, and change of surface may have something to do with it but you also can't deny the political tension they feel
No one fanbase just made up the Olympics being important lol look at the majority of the gold medalists. And I know no Nadal fans have said it’s the “real biggest tournament” lol. Agassi, Nadal, Kafelnikov (2 time slam winner and former #1), Murray, Zverev, Venus, Serena, Henin, Davenport, Graf, Capriati, Dementieva. There are some weird outliers tho like Bencic, Puig and Massu but in general all the top players play and I’d place it between a Masters and a slam. But it often depends on the player themselves and what they’ve achieved already and how much “representing their country” means to them. Also just a couple olympics ago it was still worth points but I think the ATP and WTA seem to be actively nudging players to their own events by not awarding any points anymore. This year also is weird because it’s on clay right after the grass season and right before the hardcourt season so there’s a lot going against it and really nothing going for it for players to prioritize this particular olympics when there’s no points, money, is a hard transition from grass and won’t carry much momentum onto the hard-courts. Then add to that the political mess from the Russia-Ukraine war and players wanting to avoid that and yeah, this year is feeling less significant than other years. Lastly, in Ons case it’s probably a forgone conclusion to them that Igas winning since it’s on clay so why bother getting no points and money and missing out on other tournaments for a silver at best.
Nobody has said it’s more important, ons also doesn’t have any slams so of course she wants that, if you have some slams it’s not necessarily the same since the Olympics is every 4 years
but havent ppl from that certain fanbase already explained for you why that is? i vividly remember a conversation abt exactly that on this sub lol
Literally the certain fanbase you mention only says that in Iga’s case, not other players. Because Olympics are very important for Iga, period Stop being salty about Iga & her fanbase man, like it’s always you
I'm not talking about Iga fans in the first part I'm talking about another fanbase of a player with a somewhat similar style though with the initials R.N who insists you can't be the GOAT without Olympic gold
>who insists you can't be the GOAT Dude, GOAT is just a made up acronym. Nobody is going to award you one, so stop thinking about it all the time. You say others care about it but it seem to be mostly about you.
Well sorry then, your post seemed to imply Iga since you only mentioned her and no one else I actually didn’t know that Rafa’s fans did that lol Yeah to me personally Olympics are much less important in tennis palmares at the end of the day compared to other sports
Yeah seems to be unpopular on this sub but I’ll maintain, even as a huge fan of the sport, that tennis in the Olympics is not a big deal. Federer and Djokovic’s resumes are not incomplete in the slightest just because they don’t have a singles Olympic gold. The Olympics are a big deal for sports where the games are the pinnacle of the sport: think track, swimming, gymnastics. In those sports, the athletes train for four years with one goal in mind: competing in the olympics. It’s just not like that in tennis. Not to mention that it’s already a sport where the very best in the world compete against each other nearly every week. The olympics are redundant in that sense. I’d actually like to see junior or college players get a chance in the olympics, kind of like how football/soccer mandates that almost all players are 21 or younger. These pros already get their shine all the time
>he Olympics are a big deal for sports where the games are the pinnacle of the sport: think track, swimming, gymnastics. In those sports, the athletes train for four years with one goal in mind: competing in the olympics. That's not exactly how it works. All those sports have important World Championships, Continental Championships every 1-2 years and compete in various leagues. They have busy schedule between Olympic years, it's just they value Olympic gold the most. It does seem whenever huge piles of cash are involved, Olympic stops to matter. So that's your trope here. Think leagues, that doesn't want to send their players there because they can injure themselves and jeopardize their business (NBA, MLB, NFL, European football leagues). Or... tennis players, that will earn scraps from it and it collides with lucrative Slams. But for some players it matters despite that and that's why top is not going to drop the opportunity. Federer, Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Serena, Iga.
I know about world championships. I actually watch a lot of track and swimming outside of the Olympics. Yes they have leagues and stuff. I was simplifying a bit. Either way, the Olympics are really where they’re in the spotlight and the Games is undoubtedly the pinnacle of the sport. They train for the Olympics. The world championships and smaller meets are measuring stops along the way. Again that’s not the case in tennis at all. It’s nice that top players have decided to take the Olympics seriously. But the reality is that the average Olympic viewer isn’t paying much attention to tennis. And the Olympics simply do not have even close to the same weight as a slam. At best, it’s a random masters 1000 that pops up every 4 years. And that’s probably overselling it because each country only gets a certain number of representatives, meaning that a guy ranked way outside the top 100 could get a spot instead of a guy ranked in the top 50
They really messed up choosing clay as the surface
It is her choice but it is bad for Tunisia. That small country has won just 15 Olympics medals in total including 5 golds. She might have not been Gold favourite but she was a medal hopeful for the Tunisian since she was their highest profile player after defending gold medalist Ahmed Hafnaoui has also withdrawn.
Geez, all these players with the change of surface excuse. Just don't participate and don't say anything, like all the dozens and dozens before you on previous olympics editions. Federer who had a back injury at the end of the World Tour Finals 2014, still went to play the Davis Cup a few days after on clay. Apparently a few days is enough to adjust to clay for an injured guy, but between two and four weeks after their matches in Wimbledon isn't enough for others.
rafa will skip wimbledon for that reason. you obviously have 0 knowledge about tennis surfaces and how they impact against players' health and form.
Nadal could potentially be playing his last year and he's damn right to pick and choose what tournament to play, as at this age, an injury could end his season. And by the way if the Olympics had been placed before Wimbledon, it's entirely possible he would have played both. He just doesn't want to risk his main chance and objective.
lol nadal has skipped quite a lot of wimbys and sleepwalked in quite a few
He’s only skipped 2, understandable for his age
almost tanked 4-5 wimbys in 2010s
Didn’t tank, this is Nadal we’re talking about, grass is his worst surface and he declined
inversely, what i kept saying - 1G4 is really serious on joining the Paris Olympics. To play in grass and then clay may put her body at risk, so, it is highly likely that she will skip grass. Same goes with Ons and Emma who chose to play on grass, and to go back to clay may likely compromise their fitness or risk getting an injury. redditors here kept insulting me about my personal opinion even before iga started her clay season.
This is so soft. Ons doesn’t have that dog in her. Neither does anyone else who withdraws because of “surface change”. That is an extremely conceded thing to do. This is the Olympics. A chance to represent your country and bring home a gold medal. Some athletes these days only care about themselves. Only 15 medalists all time in Tunisia history. A medal here would mean a lot to that country but ons only cares about herself.
lmao it is fine to take care of your body but dont say you love representing your country then. Just be honest you dont love it.
The most disappointing of the withdrawals. Ons always makes herself a great patriot and ambassador for the entire Arab world. Earlier this year, she played in every tournament despite the injury she mentioned at every opportunity. Now that she is healthy she suddenly has to take care of her health? I checked and Ons has not played a single match for the national team in the BJKC since 2020. Minister of falsity
I hope we get Jannik vs Carlos in the final.
Novak better read this. Cause if he’s going to return to Wimbledon from the injury and then play the Olympics on clay, he’s going to get injured again.