It Pays To Have Played in the Olympics

The winner takes home nothing, except for a little medal. The television coverage is bad. Really bad. So bad that this Elena Dementieva fan couldn't even manage to find television coverage of her gold-winning performance despite plenty of channel surfing during the event. And this year the event was held half-way across the globe. What kind of pro would subject themselves to this kind of event? By now, it should be obvious that I'm talking about the Olympics, that event pros used to skip in hordes because they didn't want it to interfere with their U.S. Open preparations. Or so they'd say. But this year's U.S. Open should make it apparent that playing in the Olympics doesn't hurt players' chances at Grand Slams but helps them. Besides, the Olympics, despite its lousy television coverage of tennis, is much more important than the Grand Slams anyway.

Ask Elena Dementieva, who now is in the semifinals of the U.S. Open, whether her gold medal in singles has boosted her confidence. With a major--some might argue the most major--victory under her belt, now maybe she can finally relax at a Grand Slam and see it through to winning the championship. So her serve isn't the best. Everything else about her game is.

Or ask Roger Federer or Stanislas Wawrinka whether their gold medal in men's doubles gave their confidence a boost. Federer last night won his 31st straight match at the U.S. Open, a close one. Still, everyone seemed to act like, oh my God, what happened, instead of realizing what a tremendous achievement this is. Anyway, Wawrinka had a good run to the round of 16 and Federer's still in it. The Olympics didn't hurt them any.

Gold medalist Rafael Nadal and bronze medalists Novak Djokovic didn't seem any worse for the wear either, and surprise silver medalist Fernando Gonzalez didn't have a bad tournament either, reaching the round of 16. Besides, he ran into perhaps the biggest underachieving Grand Slam winner on the tour, Andy Roddick, who seems to have every bit as big a serve and forehand as Pete Sampras, but hasn't quite lived up to that legend's legacy. Roddick is in many ways the opposite of Dementieva. All too often, every stroke except his serve and, when it's on his forehand, have let him down. So, why hasn't he been subject to the same outrageous level of mockery that she has over her serve? Because, unlike her, he doesn't seem like one of the very nicest players on tour, or because in the case of this American, common decency somehow comes into play? I don't think the press should be meaner to Roddick, just give Dementieva some of the respect that's been due to her ever since she won a silver medal eight years ago.

One of the most successful pros to have missed the Olympics is the newest heartthrob on the tour, Juan Martin Del Potro, whose unbelievable run of 23 straight victories on the tour continues into the U.S. Open quarters--the most exciting story this summer other than Dementieva's gold, Nadal's rise to #1, Federer and Wawrinka's moment of elation after they won the men's doubles gold, and Venus Williams' return to top form, winning herself a third gold medal by capturing the women's doubles gold with her sister Serena. Three gold medals in tennis. Try and do that, Michael Phelps!

Anyway, the Olympics didn't seem to hurt the Williams' sisters, who meet each other in the quarters. It's ridiculous that they're seeded so low, considering how well they're playing. Serena's right. It does "suck," as she mentioned that they have to play each other before the semis. But how great is it for them both to be in the quarters? Great for the game and for them.

Sure, there are some folks who skipped the Olympics still in the field. One of them may even win the U.S. Open. But the tourney, usually the focal point of the tennis world at the end of the summer, seems a little anticlimactic after the excitment and drama of the Olympics.