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BOYCOTT GOES BUST
Olympic pull-outs:
Serena, Capriati in a world of hurt
The TR.net four-step Olympic formula
By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
Fred Mullane/Camerawork USA |
| The United States' best and
only hope: defending gold medallist Venus Williams. |
It now seems like eons ago that US women
won 13 out of the last 16 Grand Slams (2000-2003) and the last
three gold medals. With Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati's
Olympic pull outs due to injuries, the US is no more than a long
shot to win Olympic gold. Defending champ Venus cannot possibly
be counting on her sprained wrist to be completely healed or that
some other injury bug might not bite her, given that she's been
on the sidelines for one ailment or another during 11 out of the
last 13 months.
The major US women are now a veteran group and every one of their
significant singles players has been down for the count over the
last year – Venus, Serena, Capriati, Lindsay Davenport and
Chanda Rubin, who's subbing for Jennifer in Athens.
Serena's last minute pullout was not wholly surprising and was
suspected when she pulled out of Carlsbad's Acura Classic with
inflation of her left knee. Some veteran writers (not this one)
believed on the day of the pullout that it was precursor for Athens,
because it's been obvious since March that Serena has been spooked
with security concerns. But the thought here was that the Olympic
village would be a perfect environment for the fun-loving and
attention-grabbing Williams and given the number of pre-Olympic
photo shoots she did (think Vanity Fair and ESPN
the magazine), there's little doubt that at least on some
level she wanted to go.
"I've never been this disappointed in my career," Williams
told The Associated Press. "The good news is I don't need
surgery. That's the only good news."
WHY FLY TO NEW YORK?
But here's what quite strange about
the whole pullout: her two primary knee doctors are in LA and
San Francisco, so why did she travel to New York and another doctor
before the plane took off, unless she re-injured her knee during
practice during the past few days? It's likely that she went to
NY with the full knowledge that her knee was likely too sore to
play and when it didn't feel great on Wednesday, went to another
doctor, who confirmed (obviously) that playing on an inflamed
knee could inflame it further. Plus, at some level, she was scared
of going.
Serena knew last week that she was leaning toward not going and
should have done her team (and possible replacements Amy Frazier
or Meghann Shaughnessy) and everyone else a favor by withdrawing
then so that captain Zina Garrison could have named a replacement,
instead of having Olympic officials sub in the next highest-ranked
international player. But, as Serena said last month, in order
to get back to the top again, "I need to focus more on me
and what I need." She felt like she needed to wait until
the last minute before deciding what was best for her - the rest
of the team be dammed.
Serena has said that winning her third US Open is a bigger priority,
but given that going into the Open she will have had only seven
matches on hardcourts this summer, her chances of winning are
hovering around 40 percent.
Susan Mullane/
Camerawork USA |
| Capriati won't
be playing for the USA. |
JCAP NEEDED TO PLAY MORE
Capriati's chances are less than that, given that she's only played
three matches on hardcourts this summer and that her hamstring
injury will prevent her from doing the necessary off-court sprints
and long runs to get her game back. It's important to note with
Capriati that, during her prime, she won three Slams primarily
because she was such an excellent retriever. Without her speed,
she'll be forced to play shorter points and that's where she always
gets herself into trouble.
It was just last July that Capriati was discussing how remarkable
it that she had stayed relatively injury-free throughout her long
career. Part of that had to do with her four-year self imposed
exile from the tour. Now she's been suffering injuries for the
past year, beginning with her elbow and shoulder last August and
continuing with her hamstring and back this summer. She has expressed
a desire to play into her 30s, but her body may not allow that.
BOYCOTTING THE BOYCOTT
Apologies to those who e-mailed me last week and asked me to weight
in on the Olympic controversy, but other obligations kept me off
the web site the past four days. Here's the cold reality: Neither
the ATP, WTA or ITF are going to risk the potential publicity they
are going to get from the Games on relatively unknown players such
as the Netherlands' Raemon Sluiter and Germany's Anca Barna and
Marlene Weingartner. None of those players had a serious shot at
medaling anyway and bringing the tours and the ITF more publicity,
so why throw the stars out with the journeyman's bath water?
There was never any serious chance of a boycott, because the players
weren't quite sure whom to boycott. The German Olympic Committee?
The Dutch Olympic Committee? It's not the Olympic chieftains themselves
who made the call; it was the offended players' own committees that
decided they weren't good enough to make the teams.
However, do you think if Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Venus or Anastasia
Myskina were left off their teams that the response from the tours
would have been the same? No, the tours are married to their star
players and making sure that their stars are taken care of. For
good reason – stars sell tickets – tennis has always
been that way and likely always will be.
Moreover, the Olympics is not a tour event. It's an event that the
ITF tries to take the lead in, but is not owned by the ITF. It's
a "tournament" where tennis' traditional leading bodies
are treated like Challenger-level players. It's a tournament where
in the US, the matches are going to shown for the most part on the
Bravo network, right after "Celebrity Poker Showdown"
(where Serena is sure to appear during the medal rounds).
What's been most disturbing about
the whole charade is the weak-kneed and after-the-fact responses
about possibly not rewarding points to the players for participating
in 2008. That's completely besides the point. I haven't heard one
player say he or she wouldn't play if they didn't award points.
The Olympics are about national glory, not about rankings.
What the ITF and the tours really need to do is change the format
so people will care to tune in. In an Olympic year, players still
have to play the Davis and Fed Cups, which is basically redundant.
This overkill hampers the sport's overall appeal by exhausting competitors
and encouraging them to overplay, leading to more and more injuries.
You just watch how many folks come into the US Open lame.
The TR.net four-step Olympic formula
What the sport's three leading bodies should do for 2008 is install
what would be a simple and easy formula and would satisfy all parties.
1. Make
the Olympics a team sport, like the Davis and Fed Cup formats.
2.
During an Olympic year, have the Davis and Fed Cups play until
16 countries remain (for each gender).
3. The Olympics would pick up where
the cup competition ended. So, 16 countries would compete for
the men's medals and 16 countries would compete for the women's
medals.
4.
The gold medal-winning countries would be declared the winner
of the respective Davis and Fed Cups.
Therefore, in the true spirit of the Games, there would actually
be a nation vs. nation team event at the Olympics.
The ITF would be satisfied because the formula would keep both
Cups going annually (and those precious money making ties in nations
that don't host a Slam would still occur). Plus, the formula would
actually bring more attention to the Davis and Fed Cups. The Olympic
committees from all the nations would be told that if they don't
sign an agreement with the ITF that allow the national tennis
federations to select their teams that their nations players'
won't participate. The ATP and WTA could still award ranking points
based on matches won.
It's that simple, which is why the Byzantine world of tennis,
it will likely never occur.
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