By IANS
New Delhi : To attract top players to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Association of Tennis Professional (ATP) have decided to award ranking points to male players.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), an organisation of professionals, had taken a similar step last July for the August games.
The awarding of points at the Olympic Games is, however, not a new development as it started eight years ago, at the 2000 Sydney games and was also implemented in the next edition in Athens.
The ATP and ITF said that the world rankings would be used as a guide to determine the top 56 direct entries in the 64-player field in each men’s and women’s singles competitions in Beijing.
Six of the remaining eight spots will be handed out by the ITF’s Olympic Committee while the other two berths will be awarded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the National Olympic Committees of various countries and the ITF.
However, the entry from each country has been increased to a maximum of six players from existing four, with up to four players competing in the singles competition and up to two teams in doubles.
“The ATP led the way at Sydney 2000, awarding ranking points for the Olympics for the first time. This agreement, combined with our existing arrangement with the WTA, means that the 2008 Olympic tennis event will have the best quality field possible,” ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said in a statement Monday.
Meanwhile, ATP executive chairman Etienne de Villiers was delighted to award the raking points for the games. “The Olympic Games remain an integral part of our sport’s great story and are a welcome addition to this year’s calendar,” he said.
Tennis competition at the Olympics will be played Aug 10-17 at the newly constructed Olympic Tennis Center in Beijing.