WASHINGTON 鈥斅燜orty-one sports will make up the itinerary at next month鈥檚 Summer Olympics, but Sam Querrey doesn鈥檛 think that tennis should be among them.
鈥淚 think for tennis and golf, the Olympics isn鈥檛 a top priority,鈥� Querrey said this week at D.C.鈥檚 Citi Open.
鈥淲e have four other Grand Slams. I think those kind of take the lead. Those are the main focus for us. Tennis in the Olympics is cool. I don鈥檛 necessarily think it maybe should be an Olympic sport.鈥�
Querrey represented the U.S. at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing but fell in the first round in both singles and doubles. Apparently the event didn鈥檛 sell him on a return.
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of over it now,鈥� he said.
Rather than interrupt his summer schedule with a trip to Brazil 鈥斅爓here prize money and ATP rankings points will not be awarded 鈥斅燪uerrey, 28, will instead spend the first two weeks of August representing the Washington Kastles in World Team Tennis and competing in an ATP tournament in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Querrey isn鈥檛 the only high profile tennis player who will skip the Olympics with concerns over the Zika virus. Other recent withdrawals include World No. 7 Milos Raonic (Canada) and No. 8 Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic).
鈥淚t was my personal decision,鈥� Berdych said Tuesday during an appearance at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.
鈥淭here have been many thoughts about it. I hope people are accepting of my decision, which is based on the facts around. You can’t make everyone satisfied. For me it was a difficult decision. Since I was a kid I have loved to play for my country.鈥�
Top-ranked American John Isner also can鈥檛 be bothered with the Olympics. Isner, 31, will instead compete at the BB & T Open in Atlanta Aug. 1-7, where he is a three-time defending champion. The winner of this year鈥檚 tournament receives $95,845 and 250 rankings points.
鈥淔or me it was a scheduling thing,鈥� Isner said, 鈥渁nd not having points [at stake] was probably the main factor for me. It wasn鈥檛 Zika for me at all.鈥�
Americans Stevie Johnson (No. 25) and Jack Sock (No. 26) are heading to Rio, but without Isner and Querrey, the door has opened for Arlington, Virginia, native Denis Kudla (No. 100) and an extreme long shot in Brian Baker (No. 437).
Kudla, 23, will represent the U.S. in international competition for the first time as a pro. Baker, 31, missed nearly three years of competition from 2013-2016 because of injuries and was only eligible for Rio thanks to his “protected ranking” which factors in time lost on tour due to injury.
While top players with prior international or Olympic experience can afford to skip the Olympics, this is a potentially once in a lifetime experience for Kudla and Baker.
鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 going to take a lot more than [the Zika virus] to not go to the Olympics,鈥� said Kudla, who trained at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, before turning pro in 2010.
Kudla reached a career-high ranking of 53rd in the world earlier this year, but lost valuable rankings points after a first-round exit at Wimbledon earlier this month. With an 8-15 record this season, a win or two at the Olympics could serve Kudla well as he looks to regain confidence ahead of the U.S. Open.
鈥淩ight now it鈥檚 kind of going in the wrong direction,鈥� Kudla said after his first-round exit in D.C.
Baker鈥檚 invite to the Olympics has the aura of a feel-good story as the veteran is competing again in 2016, despite undergoing 11 surgeries in the last seven years.
鈥淚 probably have a little bit better perspective of the game just having had to deal with all of the adversity,鈥� said Baker.
鈥淓ven though it鈥檚 not a traditional Olympic sport, I think anytime you can represent your country it鈥檚 a really cool thing,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淚 [knew] that if I ever got selected for Davis Cup or I was ever able to play Olympics, I would jump at the opportunity.鈥�
