Do you think ranking points should be given in the Olympics?

Question

They are... and I disagree with it. I know its trying to increase the popularity of it but I feel the Olympics should be played for the country and the fans, not for personal gain. Also, you can't exactly defend come the next 4 years so it kind of is like cheap points. I'm not like fully anti it or anything tho, just wondering what you guys think.

Answer 1

I like the system the way it is...and I reckon ranking points should be given in the Olympics.  Yes, though you're playing for your country and fans, you're sacrificing time that you could instead spend preparing for the US Open (for example).  It's also a lot of serious individual work that would no doubt put strain on the body.

The whole year's schedule has been modified to make room for the Olympics - resulting in some tough changes for many players.

Of course, the Olympics are an international event where you show your national pride and fight for your country, but it wouldn't hurt to give the players some Thanks for participating and doing their best. So with all these reasons, I feel that it's good that individuals are rewarded with ranking points. ;)

Answer 2

Nah, the Olympics are a country and pride thing players don't need to worry about points there.

Answer 3

It's unfair to give ranking points, because the olympics is not "open" like most other tennis tournaments. Let's say one country has a bunch of great players. They can only hand pick a few of them to take to the olympics. It's unfair to the others who will not get a chance to gain those points. In that sense it's just like Davis cup. It's completely separate from the ATP tour, and therefore should not count for points.

What might make sense is to award country points rather than player points. It means nothing, but it's more fair.

Also a big part of the ATP system is defending your points. How are you going to defend those points if there are no olympics next year. Whoever wins the gold will receive some extra points this year, but will lose all of them next year. It's essentially borrowing next year's points this year - sort of like a credit system.

Answer 4

I agree and disagree with you. I think it's appropriate to give ranking points, sure it's a chance to represent your country but I think because you've committed to doing that ranking points are your rightful reward. Don't forget that the Olympics do come before the US Open and many players will be getting ready for that and players like Andy Roddick have opted to skip the Olympics to get ready for the US Open, so I think that speaks for the committed players who genuinely want to represent their country. Honestly If they didn't give ranking points, then what's the point of winning a grandslam and coming back the next year and defending the title and you get no points, it's the glory you feel after it's all over with it's not about personal gain, it's the glory of it all. But I will say that even if they weren't giving points I'd still go and play, how many people can say they represented their country at the biggest sporting event in the entire world, not very many.

Answer 5

Yes because they desevre to be rewarded for their time hard work

Answer 6

Yes, I think ranking points should be given to the Olympics. The reason being, unfortunately there are a lot of players in tennis who dont give a lot of importance to Olympics. Andy Roddick very famously said "Olympics might be the biggest thing in sports, but It's not the biggest thing in tennis".

There are tennis players who think that because tennis came to the Olympics so late (1988, in Seoul, South Korea), the Grand Slams remain more important in a career sense.

Also, lets not forget that this year the Olympics would finish just 1 week before the start of the US Open, and they are being held in China, which is half way across the world from the US. That adds a lot of excess baggage of switching time zones, lot of travelling, etc.

Giving ranking points to Olympics would give an extra incentive to players to participate in them.

Answer 7

Nah, the Olympics are purely for the country and fans...