Whenever the Summer Olympics event comes around, the question whether tennis belongs in the Olympics is brought up. This year’s Summer Games event wasn’t any different.
It didn’t help that Zika virus, a virus transmitted by mosquitoes, dominated the story lines right before the 2016 Rio Olympics. This prompted several top players such as Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych, Simona Halep, and Karolina Pliskova to skip the event as they raised concerns over the Zika virus.
However, the Rio Olympics did not disappoint as there were compelling stories that arguably made the case that tennis does indeed belong in the Summer Games.
One of the big stories was the men’s first round match featuring top seed Novak Djokovic and injury-plagued Juan Martin del Potro. In what was one the most shocking outcomes of the tournament, the unseeded Argentine handed Djokovic a devastating loss, reducing him to tears.
In the women’s singles, Monica Puig’s gold medal win took the world by surprise as no one predicted this result. The then unheralded Puig crushed 2016 French Open winner Garbine Muguruza 6-1, 6-1 in the third round, routed two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova in the semis, and took down the newly minted world No. 1 Angelique Kerber 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in the final.
In the men’s final match, del Potro tugged at our heartstrings as he accepted his silver medal after losing to Andy Murray in the final. After being side-lined by three wrist surgeries, the Argentine showed us the goods that helped him capture his maiden Grand Slam at the 2009 U.S. Open.
Watch the Tennis Goes for Gold video: