It has been reported that the ITF committee has changed its eligibility rule for the 2016 Olympics by doubling the amount of ties players will have to play leading up to the next Olympics.
Maria Sharapova is not in favor of this rule and has said this about the announcement:
“I’m disappointed.”
“I met with them once in Miami. They didn’t listen to us at all.”
Currently, you have to make yourself available for two ties in the two years preceding the Olympics, but the new rule states that you now have to be available for four ties in the four-year period leading up to the Olympics and Sharapova argues that this kind of rule change can cause some trouble in the players’ schedules on the tour.
Sharapova herself did take part in two ties for Russia during the 2011 and 2012 Fed Cup seasons but you have to argue that she only did that in order to get herself to become eligible for the Olympics. Otherwise she usually blames an injury, fatigue or a busy schedule for her inability to participate in the Fed Cup when it isn’t mandatory. So it goes without saying that even though this new rule is in place, if a spot at the next Olympics is at stake, Sharapova will no doubt comply with the new rules in order to get there. It seems rather odd that other players haven’t opposed this rule change yet, but if they happen to, only then it will become an issue that needs to be looked into.
I personally don’t think other players have a problem with this rule change and if you do the math, four ties in the four years leading up to the Olympics is only one mandatory appearance per year which I think would be a great incentive for players to go out and play for their country at least once if they want to represent their country in the Olympics. If they don’t have the desire to represent their country in the Fed Cup, what kind of message does it send to let them represent their country in the Olympics, assuming they’re just going for the gold without any regard for the country they have chosen to represent.
If you are a citizen of a country and choose to retain the nationality of that country while playing a sport, the least you can do is play one tie a year in the Fed Cup; especially when it comes to Maria Sharapova, who has been known for opting out of many Fed Cup ties and who is now complaining that there are too many compulsory ties to play if you want to get to the Olympics.
You should be proud to represent your country no matter if you’re playing in the Fed Cup or the Olympics. And if you can’t make an appearance once a year to represent that country, maybe you shouldn’t take a spot that could be taken by someone who considers it an honor to represent their country in an international event.
The Serbian tennis players have decided to forgo a stay at the Olympic Village during London 2012 and have instead opted to stay at a nearby house in Wimbledon.
“It’s true, we’re gonna stay in a house nearby, because it’s more I think convenient for us to be closer to the Wimbledon tennis courts and be able to come on time for practise, for matches, and not to be worried about the traffic in London that can be horrible sometimes,” said the world No. 1.
“We do feel a little sad and maybe regret that we’re not staying in Olympic Village, because Viktor (Troicki) is the only one of us four that hasn’t played Olympic Games. He would really love to stay in the Village, but he understands that it’s maybe better for his performance to stay close by.”
“Who is going to be the host? We’re all men in the house, so I don’t know. We’ll try to get a woman at least, you know, to take care of us,” he joked.
I would like to put my name forward to act as Housekeeper for Novak 
Courtesy: Tennistalk
Former world number one Martina Hingis feels reserved about her chances of playing mixed doubles with her compatriot and 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
In order for Hingis to play in the Olympics, she would have to have a singles or doubles ranking by June 11, 2012, and in order for her to directly qualify, it would have to be a fairly high one of either top 56 in singles and top 10 in doubles. The ITF will only accept mixed doubles teams from players who are already on site in London having already qualified in singles or doubles.
“There are talks,” Hingis said in San Diego, where she was playing a pro-am. “There are too many ifs at this point. I always said I wasn’t coming back and I did, and after TeamTennis I felt good and with Serena winning Stanford [Hingis split matches with Williams in World TeamTennis]; it makes you think, ‘I played good against her and she beat Sharapova 3 and 1.’ So I’m like, ‘Wow I think I played a pretty good match’…But I don’t think I would last a whole match now. TeamTennis is only to five games.”
And she has also stated that there will be an immense amount of pressure on her since she is playing with a champion like Federer, ”To play with Roger you’d have to being playing great, right?’ she asked. She has also stated that she wanted to play doubles with Lindsay Davenport last year but that plan was never put into action. They did manage to win the 2011 French Open and Wimbledon seniors doubles titles.
There has been a lot of reports that a member of Roger Federer’s team has approached Martina Hingis to play mixed doubles at the 2012 Olympics.
“They asked that question…We’re still a long way away,” Hingis said. “I’m not sure, because you have to really commit. And I feel great right now, but it’s still a long way to go, it’s another year…I mean, I would have to play some doubles before, or some mixed…who knows?”
There seems to be a lot of entry requirements for Hingis, such as playing on tour so she can go through anti-doping tests, plus make herself available for Fed Cup.
It will be interesting to see if Hingis can commit.
Its been rumoured that the 2012 Olympics will be Kim Clijsters final major tournament. On Wednesday Kim hinted that she may retire for the second time after the 2012 London Olympics.
“That will probably be the last big event that I will be a part of,” said the three-time U.S. Open champion, who has gone back and forth on the subject of her retirement date a number of times.
The 27-year-old already retired once. In May 2007, Clijsters decided to start a family when she was 23-years old. She came out of retirement one year and three months later.
“The desire is back. I have missed the competition in the last two years. I am training for one goal, to face all these talented girls,” Clijsters said.
