QUOTES FROM AMERICAN TENNIS OLYMPIANS AND TIDBITS OF INFO ABOUT THE U.S. TENNIS TEAM

Written by: Staff on 10th August 2016

QUOTES FROM AMERICAN TENNIS OLYMPIANS AND TIDBITS OF INFO ABOUT THE U.S. TENNIS TEAM

epa05467750 Madison Keys of the USA celebrates after winning against Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in Women's Singles match of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Tennis events at the Olympic Tennis Centre in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 09 August 2016. EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS |

2016 Olympic Games

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Olympic Tennis Center, Rio Olympic Park

Tennis Competition Dates: August 6-14

RESULTS – (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2016)

ALL MATCHES WERE CANCELED DUE TO RAIN

TOMORROW’S ORDER OF PLAY (THURSDAY, August 11, 2016)

Madison Keys (USA) vs Daria Kasatkina (RUS) Court 1 – 10:00 est.

Steve Johnson (USA) vs Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) – Court 4 – 1st match -10:00 est

Venus Williams/Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Kiki Bertens/Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) – Court 4 – 2nd match

Jack Sock and Steve Johnson (USA) vs Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau (ROU) – Court 4 – 3rd match

Jack Sock and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) vs Jamie Murray and Johanna Konta (GBR) – Court TBD – not before 4:00 est.

U.S. OLYMPIC TENNIS TEAM QUOTES FROM AUGUST 10, 2016

Madison Keys – On her effort today:

“I think I played the first set really well and then I think Carla definitely raised her level. She was able to push me back and I wasn’t able to dictate as well. The third set was kind of a battle to see who could dictate the point first. And then at the end I think I really found a rhythm on my serve.”

On letting Suarez Navarro back into the match in the third set:

“I think she returned well. I think I lost my rhythm on my serve a little bit. It was probably due to some nerves. But I was really happy I was able to focus and be able to break her. And then she broke me, and then I broke her. It was a really tough match.”

On navigating the slow conditions which make it easier for opponents to run down her powerful groundstrokes:

“Just knowing that it’s going to happen is the biggest thing. Not getting frustrated when they do get those two or three extra balls.”

“The first time we hit out here, I was like, this is like a clay court. So I knew that going in, it was going to be longer points and I wouldn’t be able to hit as many winners.”

On how she is able to make those adjustments now with more experience as a professional:

“Yeah I feel like a big thing is that I have matured in a lot of ways. I have not gone for the winner when I’m ten feet behind the baseline. It is fun because one out of ten times you hit an amazing winner. But now nine out of ten times I get back into the point.”

“It’s been a huge goal of mine, to be smarter on the court. And cut down on the senseless mistakes.”

On how that comes with age:

“Yes with my wise old age of 21 (laughs).”

On her next round matchup with Daria Kasatkina (RUS).

“I think that’s going to be a tough match for them. Kasatkina is a great up and comer and she’s doing so well and I have zero doubt that she will be around for a while. She’s a younger player and I haven’t seen her a lot but I think she plays pretty aggressively.”

On having trophy hardware come into the picture a lot earlier at the Olympics:

“That’s true but you know in a final, you’re walking away with something too.”

Serena Williams – was asked questions in the hallway after match.

Serena Williams of the USA in action against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the women’s third round of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Tennis events at the Olympic Tennis Centre in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 09 August 2016. EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

Thoughts after the loss?

“Obviously, I’m disappointed, but she played really well and I think the better player today won. But I can’t wait for next time, and I know next time is going to be a really good match and I look forward to it.

About her career of playing in the Olympics.

“It was a great opportunity. It didn’t work out the way I wanted it to. But at least I was able to make it to Rio. That was one of my goals.”

On what it was like to be at the Games with her sister.

“It was awesome. It was fun. It’s over now.”

On camera interview from mix zone.

It hasn’t been enough tonight to beat your opponents. What was the problem?

“She played unbelievable today. I’ve never seen her play this good. She hardly made any errors. She did a great job. It was her day today.

Bitter feeling to leave the Olympics so early because you love the Olympics so much?

It’s okay, it’s really…it’s fine. There’s always next week so I have to be ready for that.

Stevie Johnson – Thoughts on the Olympic experience so far.

“I’m enjoying my experience here overall. I’m really trying to take the most in as I can. You have a lot of expectations maybe but you don’t know until you’ve come here. I’ve had such a good time here, the team the people involved with our staff and all the athletes I’ve gotten to meet and hang out with in the village. It’s just a blessing to have thousands and thousands of athletes in one spot.”

What are your thoughts on the courts being slow?

“The courts are definitely slow and bouncy and it’s a hard court we don’t mind as American’s and something we grew up on.”

What are your thoughts on meeting Secretary of State John Kerry?

“It was awesome. He’s high up the totem pole for us American’s and to have him come down here as a tennis fan it was truly an honor.”

What’s the feeling that you’ve made it to the semi-finals of the Olympic Games?

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. Tonight was our most complete match by far. We earned a lot of return games even though we won handily. We played great. Our returns were on. Our serves were on. Any day we can get out there and get up a break early is a big key for our confidence.

Jack Sock – Talk about the momentum you guys have been building over the course of the Games so far.

“We play pretty similar so we kind of know each other very well. We have been practicing and played against each other. We are very knowledgeable of each other games. When we go out there we know exactly what we want to do. We know what our strengths are on how we want to finish points, win points and execute that the best we can.”

What are your thoughts on your next match?

“Hopefully we can get out to a quick start in our next match and keep the momentum going.”

WHERE TO WATCH

With Rio just one hour ahead of the Eastern Time zone, the 2016 Summer Games will be the most live Olympics ever. NBCU will present 2,084 hours of Olympic linear programming across 11 networks: broadcast networks NBC and TELEMUNDO (Spanish language); cable channels Bravo, CNBC, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC UNIVERSO (Spanish language), and USA Network.

Bravo will once again serve as the home of Olympic tennis beginning on Saturday, August 6, and concluding on Sunday, August 14, with the men’s singles final. The women’s singles final airs on Saturday, August 13. For each of the first five days, Bravo will televise Olympic tennis for more than 12 hours, from 9:30 a.m. ET until 10 p.m. ET. The final four days will each consist of eight hours of coverage, from 11 a.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET. This will be the third time that Bravo has hosted Olympic coverage (2004 and 2012).

NBCOlympics.com will provide more than 4,500 hours of live event competition from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The site will serve as the preeminent destination for Olympic content and the exclusive home of Olympic video coverage, featuring, for the first time, live streaming coverage of all 2016 Rio Olympic Games competition, plus event rewinds and extensive video highlights.

2016 U.S. OLYMPIC TENNIS TEAM ROSTER

Brian Baker (singles, men’s doubles)

Steve Johnson (singles, men’s doubles)

Madison Keys (singles)

Denis Kudla (singles)

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (women’s doubles) & mixed dubs too

Rajeev Ram (men’s doubles) & mixed with VENUS

Jack Sock (singles, men’s doubles) & mixed with Bethanie

Sloane Stephens (singles)

CoCo Vandeweghe (women’s doubles)

Serena Williams (singles, women’s doubles)

Venus Williams (singles, women’s doubles) & mixed with Rajeev Ram

U.S. OLYMPIC TENNIS FACTS

DOMINATING THE WOMEN’S GAME

The United States won all Olympic gold medal opportunities in women’s tennis at the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2012 Olympic Games. Since 1988, the United States has won all gold medal opportunities in women’s tennis with the exception of four. (.714 winning pct. in winning gold medals since 1988). The U.S. did not win a gold medal in women’s tennis in 2004. Prior to that, the lone gold medal won by a non-American since 1988 was at the 1988 Olympic women’s singles competition, when Steffi Graf of West Germany won gold over Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina.

OVERALL U.S. MEDAL COUNT

The United States has won more Olympic medals in men’s and women’s tennis than any other nation since tennis was re-instated as an Olympic sport in 1988. The United States’ medal total (21) is 10 more than the nearest other medal-winning nations (Spain with 11).

The United States has won six times as many Olympic gold medals in men’s and women’s tennis than any other nation since tennis was reinstated as an Olympic sport in 1988. (USA – 13 gold medals; Russia, Germany/West Germany, Switzerland, and Chile – 2)

YEARS FOR TENNIS IN THE OLYMPICS

The 2016 Games marks the 15th time that tennis has been a full medal sport at the Olympics (Olympic tennis years were 1896-1900-1904-1908-1912, then 1920-1924, and 1988-1992-1996-2000-2004- 2008-2012-2016).

ORIGINS OF OLYMPIC TENNIS

TENNIS IN THE MODERN GAMES

Tennis was one of the nine sports on the Olympic program at the first Modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The first Olympic tennis champion was John Boland, an Irishmen vacationing in Greece at the time of the first Modern Games and entered into the tennis competition upon the urging of a Greek classmate from Oxford. Boland, who would later found the University of Ireland and serve Britain as a member of Parliament, won the singles competition in an eight-man field and paired with a German, Fritz Traun, to sweep the doubles title.

Tennis was a fixture on the Olympic program through the 1924 Games in Paris. The International Tennis Federation – the international governing body for tennis – and the International Olympic Committee saw differences on the definition of amateurism, and on whether Wimbledon should be played in Olympic years. What resulted was the exclusion of tennis from the Olympic Games as an official medal sport until 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.

THE RETURN OF TENNIS AS A FULL MEDAL SPORT

Tennis triumphantly returned to the Olympic Games in 1988 in Seoul, becoming the first Olympic sport to allow professionals to compete (basketball followed suit in 1992). Steffi Graf of West Germany completed the rarest feat in the sport by capping a “Golden Slam” at the Seoul Games, having won all four major titles in professional tennis (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open) heading into the 1988 Games. Coincidentally, Graf’s husband – American Andre Agassi – is the only other player to win all for major singles titles and an Olympic gold medal in singles during their career.

Topics: 10sballs, Olympic tennis, Rio 2016, Rio Olympics, Sports, Tennis News

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everydaypantry says:

August 10, 2016 at 10:23 pm

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