Djokovic won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished fourth in London four years later. The fact that I have lost in the first week of Wimbledon allowed me to have a week more of the time with my family and just the quality time off the tennis, thinking about other things, recharging my batteries, and then coming in here with plenty of motivation to do well.
Advertisement
Wawrinka and Roger Federer were expected to contend for another doubles gold medal for Switzerland, but both pulled out of the Olympics because of injuries, leaving the Rio Games without two of the top four men in the rankings.
“To be honest, I was very surprised”. I’m trying to respect the same kind of preparation and routine that I have with my team and that I have respected for so many years.
Second seed Andy Murray, who will be Great Britain’s flag-bearer, will face Viktor Troicki, who he has beaten in all seven of their past meetings, first up.
“I’m going to try to extract that positivity out of that huge attention and energy that will be directed into the Olympic Games and hopefully put myself in a position to battle for a medal”.
“It’s my number one goal. It would mean the world to me to crown my career with gold, it would rank as one of the highest achievements of my career”, he said.
Four years on, 14-time major victor Nadal is injured again, this time nursing a damaged left wrist which has kept him off tour since the French Open in May.
Following his third round-exit at Wimbledon, the 29-year-old bounced back in style with a Masters triumph in Toronto last week.
“Roland Garros is behind me”. To win the Grand Slam in Paris was an unforgettable experience, but it’s passed.
“They were handsome memories but I want to live in the present”.
“Actually losing early at Wimbledon actually helped me to recover and rest”. Everything happens for a reason. “There must be an order to the universe for that to happen”.
Meanwhile, the seeds for the Rio tennis tournament, which starts Saturday, were announced by the International Tennis Federation on Wednesday. Overall, half of the top 20 won’t be in Brazil for various reasons, though the draw still has the star power of Djokovic, Murray and Nadal.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza will play former world number one Jelena Jankovic while another standout clash pits American Sloane Stephens against Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard.
Advertisement
Send your good luck messages for the 119-member strong Indian contingent at Rio Olympics using #GoTeamIndia.
