^^ Olympic gold in the singles is the only thing left in Federer's career he didn't achieve and would lift him to even morey ridiculous heights in history books, I highly doubt he doesn't want it.
Didn't know he never made Olympic gold, but just looking at how he's playing and his body language. It's almost as if he mailed it in.
Murray dismantling Federer. It was great watching Federer and Murray shake hands though at the net and judging by Federer's smile he is a a class act and was happy for Murray to finally win a big one.
Congrats to Murray, though. Maybe this win gives him confidence to finally win a Grand Slam, although I still find pleasure in him constantly being denied.
He won the Doubles in Beijing together with Wawrinka, but Singles gold is the missing key in his career and it will always cast a tiny shadow over him. Before the match both said Silver means nothing and would be a huge loss for them.
I already mentioned Federer possibly being tired by his Del Po match, but it was as equivalent as a 5-set semifinals match in a Grand Slam, and overall, he should be more rested because the Olympics are 3-set matches prior to the finals so he's had to play less games. With 2 days of rest, I don't think fatigue was as much of it. Murray played great. He had good court coverage and returned balls with good placement to make Federer run. This match just seemed uncharacteristic of Federer's level of play, and I wish it were a better match.
Winning the Tennis gold in the Olympics doesn't seem like it's that important. It's kinda like winning the Aussie Open. Good but not that relevant compared to the other three majors.
Legends like Becker disagree, even the players disagree and say it's the biggest sports event in the world and winning it is the biggest dream of every tennis player.
I really find that hard to believe. I think the grand slams are a bigger deal. No one remembers who's won olympic gold. The only person I remember winning it was Agassi and that's because it completed his career slam. I think Murray would trade in this win for a win a month ago.
I think Slams are more significant, too. It's a bigger tournament. No limitations on who can compete. The best are always in the tournaments, and you have 5-set matches in the men's Grand Slams. To me, Grand Slams are a bigger accomplishment because they're more difficult.
Well, either they're lying or it's the truth. The Olympics are held every four years, while there are various GS to win every season. You could maybe debate that Wimbledon is on the same stage and seen as bigger by some guys, but overall Olympics are the biggest sports event in the world and the winners become legends.
I think Grand Slams are still bigger, but players are starting to take the Olympics more seriously. In the last two Olympic tournaments, tons of big names begged out of the Games. This year, that wasn't a problem at all. The players that dropped out did so because they were injured or because they weren't eligible, not because they weren't interested. Part of that, I think, is because this tournament was going to be at Wimbledon and not just some anonymous hardcourt facility. But I also think that a part of it is that tennis is truly a global sport and even in ATP and WTA tour events, you are playing for your country to a certain extent. Tennis players in today's game tend to be extremely patriotic.
I think the tennis players are being polite when they're talking about the Olympics. I had to google the last few Tennis gold medalists: Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 2000. Nicolás Massú in 2004. He defeated the mighty Mardy Fish. No one remembers Massú. He never won the majors. Andy Murray will also be a footnote if he continues to lose in the finale of majors, with or without Olympic gold. Fed and Nadal are legends because of their multiple grass and clay court victories, and not because of a gold medal. Olympic gold may be the pinnacle of the other sports, but it's not that big of a deal in tennis.
I don't know what to do. The 100m is my most anticipated event, but don't know whether I should watch it live online or wait it to watch at night on NBC, risking being spoiled.
