The Road to Rio grows bumpy and uncertain: more players are giving the Olympics a miss

Most tennis players and athletes look forward to the Olympics for its colorful, extravagant opening ceremony, walking together and representing their country under their flag; meeting other world class athletes, seeing the scenic showcase of designs and theatrics…it’s totally unreal. But that’s not all the Olympics holds and the undercurrent dynamics of what the Rio Olympics is this time has put a damper on the highlights, the fun and the spectacular parts.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is where the Olympics will be held and along with Christ The Redeemer monument which stands about 98 feet tall overlooking the countryside, Brazil has had an infestation of mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus for many years now. It is very difficult to get a handle on curtailing the mosquito expansion and over the past year it has grown. Most are skeptical of its harmlessness to the general population despite the World Health Organization (WHO) saying the mosquito virus is most dangerous in moist, wet climates. Brazil will be in its winter session when the Olympics is held which has dry and cool temperatures–and not much injury can be imposed to neighboring areas including the Olympic environment. Despite the Zika virus, one other reason why many tennis players are withdrawing from going to Rio is that this year, the ATP and WTA will not offer any ranking points for players, because country rankings count and if few players are from a country, they get more points than a larger country, so the organizations simply eliminated the point system. Andy Murray stated his reason for participating is to win medals not the points. But John Isner and Stan Wawrinka do not feel that way at …

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