ไม่ต้องขายไม่ต้องเข้าอบรม 100%

แค่สมัครก็ได้ 100$ แล้วครับ

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Tennis’ Olympic reputation scores an ace


As Federer’s zeal would suggest, Olympic tennis has become a big deal to top players. The majority may never covet a gold medal the way they do a Grand Slam title, and tennis is unlikely to challenge track, swimming or gymnastics as quintessential Olympic sports.
But 20 years after its reinstatement as a medal event, tennis has a firm foothold at the games.
“Tennis in the Olympics has become bigger and bigger,” doubles bronze medalist Mike Bryan said. “It means a lot to these guys now. To see Federer go down on his back after winning a semifinals of doubles, it shows how important an Olympic medal is to him.”
ADVERTISEMENT In the past top players have often skipped the games or been eliminated in early rounds, reinforcing the notion they didn’t consider the Olympics a priority.
But this year’s field was perhaps the strongest ever—the eight highest-ranked men played singles, and seven of the top eight women made the trip to Beijing. And there were no major upsets in the first four days.
As at any big tournament, there were surprises. A rematch of the epic Wimbledon final between Federer and Rafael Nadal failed to materialize, as did a sibling showdown in the women’s final between Venus and Serena Williams.
Such matchups with gold medals at stake would have really put Olympic tennis on the map, but in the span of a few hours, Federer and the Williams sisters were all eliminated in the quarterfinals. Unseeded Li Na of China made the semifinals, and No. 12-seeded Fernando Gonzalez reached the men’s final before losing to Nadal.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean top players didn’t want to win.
“It’s unpredictable,” said Bob Bryan, who played doubles with his brother. “Some players rise to the occasion when they play for their country. Some players get a little nervous.
“It’s different than a normal tournament. It’s do or die. It’s a lot of players’ last Olympics. It’s a lot of players’ first Olympics, and their only opportunity to get a medal and become a superstar in their country.”
Nadal rose to the occasion, adding a gold medal to the French Open and Wimbledon titles he has already won this year. It was the first time since tennis returned to the Olympics as a medal sport that the men’s singles title was won by a player ranked in the top five.
Players aren’t unanimous about the prestige of Olympic tennis. Andy Roddick played at Athens in 2004 but skipped Beijing to focus on the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 25.
But Francesco Ricci Bitti, president of the International Tennis Federation, said tennis has become entrenched as an Olympic sport more quickly than he anticipated.
“We have seen a great evolution over the 20 years in Olympic tennis, with a medal becoming one of the most coveted prizes for our athletes,” he said.
More and more, players seem to embrace the notion that Olympic tennis is an opportunity not to pass up. As a result, its profile is on the rise.
“It’s kind of strange—I never knew tennis existed in the Olympics until four years ago,” said American Sam Querrey, a first-time Olympian. “It seems like it’s becoming more popular.”
Participation will likely be high at the London Games four years from now, when tennis will be held at Wimbledon. The Williams sisters said last week they already plan to be there.
“The ultimate boast is Olympic gold,” Venus said.
In short, playing Olympic tennis has become the thing to do.
“When I speak to some players now who didn’t used to play the Olympics back in maybe 1996 or 2000,” Federer said, “I know that some of them have regrets that they didn’t play it, seeing how big the Olympics has become in tennis, and how important tennis has become to the Olympics.
“I hope that by my presence, and also Rafa’s presence, and the presence of Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt in the past years, I think that’s only going make it more important for the future generations. That’s one of the reasons I play.”

No comments:


หารายได้จากการ upload