The International Tennis Federation announced earlier on July 2 the direct acceptance list for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Tennis Event. Spearheaded by world number ones Roger Federer (SUI) and Ana Ivanovic (SRB), 17 of the top 20 men and 18 of the top 20 women will compete in Beijing, making it the strongest field ever since tennis returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Tickets to the Olympic Tennis Event in Beijing, which will run from August 10-17, are rumoured to have sold out.
According to the ITF, 56 players are entered based on their June 9th ATP and WTA Tour singles ranking, but limiting to four singles players per gender per country. Players must also be in good standing with their National Association and have met the minimum participation requirements for Davis Cup and Fed Cup.
Amongst the top players, notable absentees are Andy Roddick (USA) and Richard Gasquet (FRA) for the men, and Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) and Marion Bartoli (FRA) for the women.
Bearing in mind the singles events are 64-player draws, six ITF Places and two Tripartite Invitations will make up the remaining eight slots.
These 'wildcard' places were earlier confirmed by the ITF. Of interest to Asian tennis is the inclusion of Sun Peng (CHN) and teenager Kei Nishikori (JPN), who became the first player from his country to win an ATP Tour singles title in over 26 years.
A 244th-ranked qualifier at Delray Beach earlier this year, the 18-year-old saved four match points against Sam Querrey in the semis before upsetting James Blake in the final. In doing so, according to atptennis.com, he became the youngest player to win an ATP Tour singles title since a 16-year-old Lleyton Hewitt beat Andre Agassi en route to winning Adelaide a decade ago.
When asked by a reporter in a post-match interview at Wimbledon on June 25 on what he thought about Kei Nishikori's performances this year, Roger Federer had this to say:
"I practiced with him in Miami last year for quite a few times. I was very impressed how well he hit the ball. I could tell right away that he will be a good player. I mean, in a way, surprising that he right away won Delray Beach. But I think we'll see much, much more of Kei in the future."
Meanwhile, on the women's side, 72nd-ranked Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) and 126th-ranked Ayumi Morita (JPN), both only 18 years of age, were also accorded ITF Places to compete in Beijing.
Did You Know…
After the 1924 Paris Games, tennis withdrew from the Olympics but returned as a demonstration event in 1984 Los Angeles and returned as a full medal sport in 1988 Seoul?
The Direct Acceptance Lists for both singles and doubles of the Olympic Tennis Events at Beijing 2008 are as follows (as at 2 July 2008):
[Beijing 2008 – Men's Singles]
[Beijing 2008 – Women's Singles]
[Beijing 2008 – Men's Doubles]
[Beijing 2008 – Women's Doubles]
Related Info:
Venue: Olympic Green Tennis Centre, Beijing (DecoTurf II)
Centre Court (Capacity): 10,000+
Date: 10-17 August 2008
Events: 4 (Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles)
Official Ticketing: www.tickets.beijing2008.cn
[Beijing 2008 Fact Sheet]
Format of Play: Best-of-Three Sets Single Elimination (Men's Singles & Doubles finals best-of-five)
Defending Champions:
Men's Singles
Nicolas Massu (CHI)
Women's Singles
Justine Henin (BEL)
Men's Doubles
Nicolas Massu/Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)
Women's Doubles
Li Ting/Sun Tiantian (CHN)
Sources
International Tennis Federation
beijing2008.cn
www.nbcolympics.com/tennis
Roger Federer – Wimbledon June 25th
Players get into Olympic spirit (www.wimbledon.com, 2 Jul 2008)