Rio olympics to be played on clay ?

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

“I think that tennis has to move to places where there is love and passion for the sport, so it is important to have tournaments in South America,” said Nadal. “Tennis is a global sport, so to have tournaments in new places is great for our sport. Cities and countries in Latin America have developed a lot over the years, so it is good to see tournaments are getting bigger and bigger in this part of the world.”

Nadal also expressed his desire to compete in Rio de Janeiro at the Olympic Games in 2016.

“It is difficult to predict what will happen over the next two-and-a-half years, but I am motivated to arrive at the Olympic Games in 2016 and be competitive,” he said.

“The fact that the Olympic Games will be on clay gives me a little bit of extra motivation. Representing my country at an Olympic Games, at Beijing 2008, was one of the greatest moments of my career.”

Nadal beat Fernando Gonzalez to win the 2008 Beijing Olympics singles gold medal.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2014/02/7/Rio-de-Janeiro-Nadal-Preview.aspx

 

[Ramesh848]

Great news, Parera to win 2 Olympic Golds, that will ultimately elevate him as BTE with total 1500 points in 12 years but.........


You're too late.

 

[Death Master]

where are tdk and forehand of doom?

 

[NatF]

I think it's cool if Olympic tennis molds itself on the traditions of the countries it's in. It won't have the same prestige as winning at Wimbledon but high quality clay court tennis is IMO the best to watch. Maybe Del Potro will be in with a shot.

 

[Bartelby]

Does anyone have any real official news as to what surface Rio wil actually be played on?

 

[Death Master]

I think it's cool if Olympic tennis molds itself on the traditions of the countries it's in. It won't have the same prestige as winning at Wimbledon but high quality clay court tennis is IMO the best to watch. Maybe Del Potro will be in with a shot.

excellent point.


this is going to be fun. I am looking forward to this Olympics already.

I think we will get to see both Rafa and Roger compete there.

 

[NatF]

excellent point.


this is going to be fun. I am looking forward to this Olympics already.

I think we will get to see both Rafa and Roger compete there.

I think Roger has some more decent years left in him. Perhaps no slams but he won't be leaving the top 10 very soon IMO. Rafa barring serious injury should last until atleast 2018.

I have less hype for this Olympics then I did for the 2012 Wimbledon edition. Nothing will ever top that for me. I'm more excited thinking about who the top players and favorites might be 2 years from now.

But yes I do enjoy the clay courts. Hopefully in 2 years time the winner won't be a forgone conclusion.

Has it be officially confirmed as clay though? Last I knew it was hardcourts.

 

[Nathaniel_Near]

I haven't found any official news. I hope it will be held on clay though as we've had HC and grass over the last couple of OG.

As has been stated, it makes sense to choose a court that fits in with the traditions of the host.



Clay Death, TDK seems to have taken a break ever since I and then some other heavily mocked him for another ******** thread, though I don't know if his break is directly related to the avatar stealing incident -- I doubt it as he seems thick skinned.

FoD is banned for the moment, I think, but I don't know how long for. Though he is divisive, perhaps his presence is more significantly missed than TDK's. Now I have less threads to hijack and manipulate.

 

[Bartelby]

I think Nadal is confusing the clay of the Rio 500 with the Olympics, which were planned for hard court, but they aren't yet built so who knows?

If Rio has plenty of clay courts it may also make sense to build them as hard courts in order to train truly international tennis players.

In any event, they can change them if and when they like.

 

[NatF]

I haven't found any official news. I hope it will be held on clay though as we've had HC and grass over the last couple of OG.

As has been stated, it makes sense to choose a court that fits in with the traditions of the host.



Clay Death, TDK seems to have taken a break ever since I and then some other heavily mocked him for another ******** thread, though I don't know if his break is directly related to the avatar stealing incident -- I doubt it as he seems thick skinned.

FoD is banned for the moment, I think, but I don't know how long for. Though he is divisive, perhaps his presence is more significantly missed than TDK's. Now I have less threads to hijack and manipulate.

The forum is better off without both of them. I imagine TDK will return when Nadal returns to action in a high profile tournament. FoD will come back whenever his ban is lifted most likely, which is hopefully never.

 

[TennisCJC]

I hope they are slightly faster than average hard courts so we don't have to watch a slow run, loop and grind fest.

 

[Nathaniel_Near]

The forum is better off without both of them. I imagine TDK will return when Nadal returns to action in a high profile tournament. FoD will come back whenever his ban is lifted most likely, which is hopefully never.

The quality of discourse recently has been quite good.

 

[NatF]

The quality of discourse recently has been quite good.

I agree, it's alot calmer here at the moment. Not much trolling other than from our new found David Ferrer fan and tennisaddict ofcourse lol.

 

[spinovic]

I thought I read somewhere before that the Rio Olympics would be on hard courts.

 

[beast of mallorca]

I thought I read somewhere before that the Rio Olympics would be on hard courts.

That's what I know as well. Maybe Nadal knows something we don't. But until there as an official announcement by the Olympic tennis officers, we won't know for sure.

 

[Chanwan]

That's what I know as well. Maybe Nadal knows something we don't. But until there as an official announcement by the Olympic tennis officers, we won't know for sure.

Glad I'm not the only one who's confused. I've def. read it'll be on HC, but can't find the link. Would be strange if Nadal is mistaken though.

 

[beast of mallorca]

Glad I'm not the only one who's confused. I've def. read it'll be on HC, but can't find the link. Would be strange if Nadal is mistaken though.

He must have spoken to The Powers That Be in Rio Tennis/Olympic Tennis, less he won't be saying things about it. But he could be wrong still

 

[Chanwan]

He must have spoken to The Powers That Be in Rio Tennis/Olympic Tennis, less he won't be saying things about it. But he could be wrong still

He could, but I would be surprised if he is. In theory, in could be a way to put pressure on The Powers to make it a clay event though. Which really is the natural choice for Brazil and Rio - especially now that Rio has an ATP 500 on clay. I remember I was quite surprised, when I learned it would be on HC.

 

[beast of mallorca]

He could, but I would be surprised if he is. In theory, in could be a way to put pressure on The Powers to make it a clay event though. Which really is the natural choice for Brazil and Rio - especially now that Rio has an ATP 500 on clay. I remember I was quite surprised, when I learned it would be on HC.

Plus their players are clay courters, so clay being the surface is not really far fetch.

 

[sam_p]

Maybe Rafa made a deal to play the ATP500 there the next few years in exchange for ensuring it would be clay

 

[marc45]

definitely an interesting decision, and what is going on behind the scenes or is already known seems unsure

 

[Backspin1183]

Great decision if it's true.

 

[JanowiczJ]

Something could have changed after Rio gained the 500 tournament, but originally the project for the olympics showed hard courts instead of clay:

I remember they chose hard courts because the maintenance cost was much lower than clay. Also, the Mayor said the Atp500 will be on temporary installations until after the 2016 games, then it will be played on the Olympic Installations.

Since I believe it doesn't make sense having an ATP 500 on hard courts in Brasil in February, I believe they may have changed the surface of the Olympics, favoring clay. Especially because it favors brazilian players.

 

[pame]

This was posted elsewhere as an artist's impression of the Olympic court - which looks like a red HC (playing court is a deeper red), like Basel's used to be.

A clay court is only one colour, no?

 

[NatF]

Yes I remember that image, clearly hardcourts. Perhaps something has changed though.