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Garden Wafers

Garden Wafers

25 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I'm bummed for Carlos losing but I hope he has a long, successful career ahead.  Frankly, I place more value on winning a Slam than a gold medal.

I think most professional tennis players place greater value in winning the Slams. I believe even when ranking points were awarded for the Olympics, it was still quite a bit less than the Slams or a Masters event. I get the sense that Djokovic is well-aware of the constant GOAT chatter and simply wanted to win in Paris because it would counter an argument in Nadal's favor: Rafa's gold medal in singles from Beijing '08. 

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Rickster

Rickster

2 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

I'm bummed for Carlos losing but I hope he has a long, successful career ahead.  Frankly, I place more value on winning a Slam than a gold medal.

There are several sports that I think don’t need to be in the Olympics because of the status of their independent tournament structures. Tennis and golf, due to their majors and Slam possibilities, and soccer due to the World Cup, immediately come to mind.

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shok

shok

14 hours ago, Garden Wafers said:

I think most professional tennis players place greater value in winning the Slams. I believe even when ranking points were awarded for the Olympics, it was still quite a bit less than the Slams or a Masters event.

I think not. You don't see players - male and female, in both singles and doubles - sobbing when they lose Slam or Master matches. Hell, way back in 2008 after he lost to Rafa in the semis, Djokovic was crying hard as he left the court and that was before Rafa had even won his first gold. There is something about the Olympics and playing for your country once every four years that grabs their emotions. Check out twitter and have a look at the elation and despair various players are posting this week. They don't do that for slams. Olympics are different, and the only ones who say they don't matter are the ones who haven't won them yet.

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Garden Wafers

Garden Wafers

4 hours ago, shok said:

Olympics are different, and the only ones who say they don't matter are the ones who haven't won them yet.

Sure, but you also have a player like Francis Tiafoe who chose to skip the Paris Games because he "care(s) way more about the Open, being as prepared for the Open as possible". This is someone who is very explicitly stating that he'd rather focus on trying to win his maiden Slam title rather than going to the Olympics. You mentioned the 2008 Games, which Roddick skipped to prepare for the hard court season. I'm not disputing the allure of the Games (I mean, top-ranked players are still participating despite not being awarded any ranking points and Zverev is going despite never having won a Slam and already have Olympic gold under his belt) - but I don't think Tiafoe's attitude is an outlier among professional tennis players. 

Also, I think it's an odd claim to make that tennis players don't cry after losing Slam matches. Look at Federer in '09 after losing the Australian Open or Ons Jabeur at Wimbledon last year. It's a physically and emotionally demanding sport - of course players are going to cry after losses. 

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