The list of entries for tennis at the Rio Games is "quite a contrast" from the golf field, which has seen many of the world's top men's players withdrawing, according to Christopher Clarey of the N.Y. TIMES. The only member of the current men's tennis top 10 "not on Thursday's provisional list" for the Rio Games was Austria's Dominic Thiem, while the "only member of the women’s top 30 not committed to play" is Italy's Flavia Pennetta, who has retired. ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert said, "I would be shocked if by 2020 in Tokyo, golf didn’t have a loaded field for the Olympics. It’s like the first one is a mulligan." Clarey writes similar to today’s golfers, some players prior to the return of Olympic tennis at the '88 Seoul Games were "skeptical and concerned about their safety and were conserving their energy for more established challenges." Int'l Golf Federation President Peter Dawson said, "Now you watch an Andy Murray or a Roger Federer and how hard they are trying to win the gold medal. It’s changed. I think that will happen in golf, and I think it will happen quicker in golf, too." Clarey writes that "seems essential if golf is to stay in the Olympics for long." The IOC "wants to take a less rigid approach to the Olympic program, adjusting to tastes and the times." Men’s golf without the likes of Jason Day and Rory McIlroy "is not five-ring material" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/1).
WON'T BACK DOWN: Serena Williams said that she thinks it is "sad" that some athletes are opting out of the Rio Games because of worries "over the Zika virus." Williams: "It's probably one thing I have that I love the most. For me, I look at the Olympics as a bonus opportunity." She added, "For me, the most important thing is knowledge and protection, to know what I'm going into. It is really one of the best experiences that I've ever had. It's difficult for someone that is in a sport like golf because their main goal, like tennis, is to win Slams" (USA TODAY, 6/29). U.S. mountain biker Lea Davison said that she is "undeterred in the face of Zika." She said, "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity so I'm going to go. I have been working for a lifetime, pretty much, for this race, so I'm not about to give it up for some mosquitoes" (NECN.com, 6/28). U.S. water polo player Courtney Mathewson said, "I’ve been training not for four years but essentially for 22 years up to this point. I don’t have it in me to just be thinking, ‘Oh, OK, try next time.’ This is the pinnacle of our game" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 6/29).
