What makes tennis at the Olympics so different?

If you're a seasoned tennis fan, you've probably noticed that tennis at the Olympics is very different than the typical ATP or WTA tournament. There are several contributing factors but a recent Served with Andy Roddick podcast explains why tennis at the Olympics is a little bit, well... weird.

“Olympics is just kind of a weird tennis event,” Roddick said. “I get all of it, it’s great for tennis players to feel like they’re a part of it… but there is this weird side too where all of a sudden—and you know I love Matt Ebden— he's one of the nicest guys, most respectful guys that you'll ever see, but...Matt Eden literally at this moment doesn't have a singles rank and he's in the Olympics. He qualified because he's playing doubles and he's around."

Roddick also points out, "[Andrea] Vavassori is another one, he's ranked 200 and something in the world and fills in for Sinner, so it's just kind of a weird event.”

Source: USTA.

Roddick adds that the Olympics are different for tennis players. Compare an Olympian playing tennis to an Olympian doing archery. The Olympics are the biggest event for these other athletes as it occurs only once every four years. For them, “there's not the US Open two weeks afterwards.”

And even though this year's Olympics tennis takes place at Roland Garros, it feels very different than the French Open. “I can't project on a place that I'm not at, but I'll tell you my experience at Wimbledon. Even the places where they checked credentials was at a different spot, the locker rooms you could use were at a different spot, so it wasn't as if you dropped in and it was just normal,” Roddick said.

Roddick continued, “You feel like you're operating from a place of comfort, but also you have no idea where you're going, what you're doing, there's no one to go to. At the normal desks that you would go to get questions answered, problems solved — [instead imagine] someone who is a volunteer for an Olympic Committee who has no idea what string tension is, or you know, anything else.”

On the other hand, there's a great pride in tennis at the Olympics. Especially this year. Roddick is extremely proud that Coco Gauff got the nod to be a flag bearer alongside LeBron James. He admits, "It’s just a huge deal for tennis to be to be front and center." 

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Source: Tennis.com / Served with Andy Roddick.