Doth Emma protest too much? “I do things at my own time – not in a diva way,” said Raducanu on Sunday, while explaining her decision not to participate in the upcoming Olympics. To some observers, though, this was a flounce worthy of Mariah Carey herself.
According to the hardliners, Paris 2024 is not just another humdrum stop on the tennis carousel, like Cincinnati or Madrid. Representing your country is a duty, and by refusing her national service, Raducanu has become a sporting draft-dodger.
From a different perspective, though, Raducanu is merely reflecting the Games’ peculiar position on the calendar – a showpiece event that offers no ranking points and can never match the cachet of a grand slam. If the Olympic tennis tournament feels like an anomaly, that’s because these athletes grow up dreaming of winning Wimbledon, not a gold medal.
Should Raducanu really feel bad about prioritising her own needs? She is hardly the only one. Only 24 hours after her absence made the headlines, world No 3 Aryna Sabalenka echoed her reasoning with another withdrawal announcement. “I prefer to have a little rest,” said Sabalenka, “to make sure physically and health-wise I’m ready for the hard courts.”
While Belarus has considerably fewer Olympic medal shots than the well-funded Team GB programme, Sabalenka’s fans respected her decision. They know that she is doing everything she can to catch up with runaway world No 1 Iga Swiatek, and cannot afford any distractions. Also, unlike Raducanu, Sabalenka has yet to become a troll-magnet.
Hours after Sabalenka’s decision, the world No 10, Ons Jabeur, confirmed her desire not to play in Paris this summer, citing injury risks posed by the Roland Garros surface that would “jeopardise the rest of my season”.
Tennis falls into ‘tourist sports’ category for Olympics
Zooming out from the narrow parameters of this debate, we can identify two different kinds of Olympic sports. The hardcore disciplines are the ones like gymnastics or eventing, which disappear completely from view in the middle of the cycle. Track and field, these days, is almost in the same position.
These sports stand at the heart of the Games. Teetering on the edge of a 10-metre board, you know that a botched dive will scotch your chances for another four years. It’s that mind-bending, blood-curdling pressure which gives Olympic competition its secret sauce.
Category two includes the tourist sports. Tennis players, footballers and golfers often seem to enjoy the Games more, because they are not dealing with such crushing expectations.
“I’ve always loved going around chatting to the other athletes,” said Andy Murray on Sunday. “You collect their flags, you get a bag of pins and attach them to your accreditation.”
None of this prevented Murray from competing ferociously, as anyone who witnessed his four-hour struggle against Juan Martin del Potro in the Rio final will attest. But it underlines the sense in which the Games are a delightful extra attraction for tennis players, rather than the core business itself.