The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and the International Tennis Federation announced today that the women competing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing will receive ranking points.
The decision to award points on the WTA Tour rankings is not unprecedented, as the 2004 Olympics which were staged in Athens, Greece awarded ranking points.
Today’s announcement by the ITF also stated that the rankings will be used to determine the top 56 direct entrants into the 64-player singles draw.
According to the singles rankings of their players, nations may be eligible for up to four players in the singles competition, and may possibly nominate a separate doubles team for direct entrance if one of their doubles players is ranked in the top ten. Hence, the maximum number of competitors allowed per country has been raised from four to six.
“This is an important step forward for the 2008 Olympic Tennis Event and I want to thank Larry Scott and the Board of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for their support and cooperation in finalising this agreement,” said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti.
“This decision means that more of the top women players will be eligible to compete in Beijing and that is good news for everyone.”
Today’s announcement will certainly be applauded in Russia, who currently has six players residing in the top fifteen.
“The agreement announced today is intended to ensure that all direct acceptance
players are selected based on merit, which is a principle of the utmost importance and one that is consistent with the spirit of the Olympic Games,” said Larry Scott, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour CEO.
“Today’s announcement is also a demonstration of the Tour’s strong support for the Olympic Tennis Event, as ranking points will help add both importance and reward for player performance at the Olympic Games.”
The WTA Tour has not officially announced how many points will be awarded for the competition, but in 2004, Justine Henin received 435 championship points and 248 ranking points for winning the gold medal.
Six of the eight remaining singles entries will be determined by the ITF’s Olympic Committee, and two berths (Tripartite Commission Invitations) will be selected by the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees, and the ITF.
The 2008 Olympic Tennis Event will take place from Sunday, August 10 through Sunday, August 17 at the new Olympic Tennis Centre in Beijing.
[...] Tour and the ITF announced two weeks ago that ranking points will again be awarded to the participants next season, and that [...]