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BEIJING—Quite often, the prevailing question about
Olympic tennis is not so much who won or who lost, but
why bother.
On
Monday at the Beijing Games, when results were mostly
predictable and matches were mostly routine, it was
interesting to hear the same old line of questions being
rolled out by the same old questioners.
“What do
you think of your Olympic experience?” asks Francois
from France.
“Is it
as important to you to win an Olympic gold as it is to
win a Grand Slam?” asks Manuel from Mexico.
To their
credit, the players try.
Rather
than running from the press conference room, screaming,
they take a deep breath, roll out their best sincere
look and attempt different ways of telling half-truths.
Yes, the Olympics are important. (What else are they
going to say; this is like Monday afternoon in New
Haven?)
Yes, a
gold medal would be a treasure along the lines of a
Wimbledon trophy. (Not one player in the world would
pass a lie detector test with that.)
Yes,
they are proud to represent their countries (Even
though, the very essence of what they have been trained
for and what they do is to represent only themselves).
You want
the truth? You probably can’t handle the truth.
How
about: “I don’t care about this in the least.”
Or: “I
think this is an incredible imposition, the worst-timed
event in the world. All I really want to do is prepare
for the US Open. With money like what that pays, why
would I care about anything else?”
Serena
Williams handled the dance best Monday.
“For
tennis players, our main goal is the Grand Slams,” she
said. “The gymnasts, for example, their main thing is
the Olympics, and they get one, maybe two shots at it.”
Exactly.
The Olympics is their Wimbledon. Same for swimmers,
fencers, team handballers, wrestlers, rowers. On and on.
Not so
tennis. It doesn’t quite fit. Tennis in the Olympics is
your Uncle Herbie at the formal wedding in Crocs.
There
was nothing particularly unusual about Monday’s
competition, other than there were lots of matches
because rain washed out most of opening day Sunday.
Both
Williams sisters won easily, Wimbledon champion Venus
got on and off center court as fast as her younger
sister. They are seeded seventh and fourth,
respectively, and are the show on the women’s side,
especially since they will also try to win their second
doubles gold medal, the first coming in 2000 in Sydney.
Ana
Ivanovic, ranked second in the world, pulled out with an
injury, but her Serbian teammate, Jelena Jankovic, now
No. 1, will also be a draw.
On the
men’s side, there is no lack of star quality, either.
Roger
Federer will give up his top ranking next week to Rafael
Nadal, who has won the last two majors, the French Open
and Wimbledon. But who is No. 1 and 2 will be less of a
story here than if they can make it to yet another
final, with the memory of their Wimbledon epic still
fresh. On Monday, Federer won in straight sets and Nadal
battled through three to advance.
Novak
Djokovic, who charmed the world at the US Open with his
player impersonations and who also happens to be this
year’s Australian Open champ, is here, too. He took out
US player Robby Ginepri Monday night. Another US player,
Sam Querrey, was also ousted, leaving only James Blake
alive in singles. The Bryan brothers, seeded No. 1 in
doubles, did not play Monday.
The main
wrinkles on the form chart were an uncharacteristic flop
by Great Britain’s Andy Murray, seeded sixth, and the
first-round exit of defending doubles champions Fernando
Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu of Chile.
So it
was a busy day and night at the funky looking, circular
tennis stadium, with the schedule surviving under
daylong threatening skies. It will be over fairly
quickly, with women’s singles decided Saturday and men’s
Sunday.
The draw
here is 64, half of a Grand Slam tournament’s, and they
play the best of three sets—except for the men’s singles
and doubles gold-medal matches. That makes two more
reasons not to lump this in with the big four.
Certainly, for those who win or even carry away a medal,
the trip, and the effort, will have been worth it.
For the
rest, if they were honest, they would tell you that, all
things considered, they’d rather be in Philadelphia. |
