Olympic Snubs Begin – Tennis Players In Jeopardy Of Not Going

Written by: Staff on 15th June 2012

Olympic Snubs Begin - Tennis Players In Jeopardy Of Not Going

epa03142694 Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden returns a shot during her match against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, USA 12 March 2012. EPA/PAUL BUCK |

The Olympic nominations in tennis are pouring in but not every nation is using the ITF’s criteria for sending athletes.

Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson, who is ranked No. 48 and within the ITF’s ranking criteria of the top 52, was not selected by the Swedish Olympic Committee because its rules say that only the top eight athletes in each sport can compete in the Olympics. The Swedish Tennis Association, which supported Arvidsson’s bid, says that they were told that because she did not reach a quarterfinal of a major tournament this year she was left off the team.

Arvidsson, was clearly upset. “There are countries who are proud of their athletes that qualify for the Olympics,” she tweeted, “Wish I was from one of them. I’m not. Been fighting so hard to get this spot in the Olympics and now its been taken away from me, by my own country. Tough times.”

The Swedish Tennis Association’s Johan Sjögren was appalled.

“She won a WTA title this year [Memphis], and in the last 12-month s defeated several players ranked in the top 20. Sofia is going through a positive trend .To not send her to London is a double fault of the Swedish Olympic Committee. . . It can not be right that Swedish Olympic Committee considers that only the top eight athletes in each sport are competing in the Olympics. There is a risk that they will kill the confidence of our kids when they do not even get to see the country’s best athletes in an Olympic Games.”

New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic will learn of her fate soon. She’s also ranked high enough at No. 46 to qualify, but is in double jeopardy because New Zealand pulled the team out of the Fed Cup at the 11th hour last year for a tie in Thailand, and because like Sweden, the New Zealand Olympic Committee has strict selection criteria and any athlete looking to be part of its team must demonstrate an ability to finish within the top 16 and be capable of going on to finish in the top eight.

Even if Erakovic is selected, Tennis New Zealand must obtain a dispensation from the International Tennis Federation for her to appear in London due to its Fed Cup pullout.

Germany has a similar criteria, where a player has to be ranked in the top 24, reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal or the semifinals of a Premier Mandatory. No. 25 Julia Goerges could be left on the outside looking in, but Angelique Kerber, Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic will qualify.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Angelique Kerber, German tennis news, Marina Erakovic, New Zealand tennis news, Olympics, Sofia Arvidsson, Swedish tennis news, Tennis News