Coco Gauff’s Coach Calls for a Change in ‘Ridiculous’ Olympic Tennis Rule After Novak Djokovic Bags…see more

Coco Gauff’s Coach Calls for a Change in ‘Ridiculous’ Olympic Tennis Rule After Novak Djokovic Bags Gold

Sunday saw one of the most thrilling tennis matches that the Olympic Games have ever witnessed. Novak Djokovic finally achieved his dream of winning the Olympic gold by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in an entertaining encounter. Both Djokovic and Alcaraz threw it all on the court, but the Serb used his experience (and channeled the Djokovic of 2011) to pull out a hard-fought, straight-set win: 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2). Despite the match living up to everyone’s expectations and the experience turning out to be exactly what they wanted, a couple of things would’ve made it even better.

In the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, several top players pulled out of the mega-event. Among them were Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Emma Raducanu, and Jannik Sinner. While most of their reasons were either health-related or the challenges of performing on different surfaces in quick succession, you can’t help but think that rankings and prize money may have played a role, too. After all, the Tokyo Olympics were proof of the advantage some players can get if they choose to skip the Games.

Considering that tennis events at the Olympics aren’t organized by the WTA or the ATP and are instead organized by the ITF, players don’t get any ranking points. Neither do they get any prize money, seeing as they’re representing their countries. Although players’ respective nations can award them with prize money, the IOC has no such mandate. At least not for tennis. But seeing how much playing at the Olympics means to players, there have been many calls to change this rule to boost players’ participation.

Coco Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert, joined the discussion as he batted for players to be awarded ranking points depending on their performance in the Olympics. Taking to his X handle, Gilbert wrote, “Absolutely ridiculous. No points should be 1500 points to winners in singles and doubles. Used to have points, I believe, was, 750 to the winner.” Interestingly, the editions before the 2016 Rio Olympics offered ranking points. However, ranking points haven’t been applicable for the past three editions.

As a result, while winning the gold in Paris took Novak Djokovic’s title count to 99, he couldn’t close the gap to Sinner’s World No. 1 lead. Speaking of the Italian, let’s look at how he benefitted from missing the Tokyo Olympics. By not being in Tokyo, Sinner could play the Citi Open. Considering most of the top players at the time were at the Olympics, the draw in Washington featured only 8 top-40 players. The Italian cruised to victory in the US capital, earning $351,000 as prize money along with 500 ATP points. This is precisely what Sebastian Korda achieved this year.

Even Casper Ruud – who played in Paris this year – won two ATP 250 tournaments during the Tokyo Olympics, earning 500 points and almost $100,000. Considering the gains both players had in the rankings, it’s understandable why people like Brad Gilbert are advocating for the Olympics to spring back ranking points. And this wasn’t the first time he shared this opinion. A few months ago, he said, “Still absolutely ridiculous; there are not at least the same points as a 1000, I think 1500 to the winner should be.”

While the lack of points and prize money are important factors in players opting out of the Games, another important reason is the scheduling and how it fits into the tennis calendar, something both Tiafoe and Shelton took into consideration.