Seems like players are dropping out of the Tokyo Olympics faster than a tricked-out Honda Civic. Players have given all sorts of excuses for not participating. For example, Roger Federer has a knee Issue, Nick Kyrgios doesn’t want to play in front of empty stadiums, and Rafa Nadal is tired. On the women’s side, Angelique Kerber needs her rest, Victoria Azarenka is concerned about Covid, and Simona Halep needs more recovery time from her calf injury.

Every day that goes by, there’s a player that has decided to withdraw. Does anyone blame them? They are required to go into an extremely restricted bubble for about a month. At this point, tennis players have had a taste of having crowds behind, in the mix, and the bubbles have become a little more lenient. The last thing they want to do is go back to a super restrictive bubble/quarantine scenario.

Therefore, you’ll see most of the top players sprinkled throughout American tournaments throughout July and August. They will play in front of crowds, will be able to bring their entourage, and won’t have to isolate themselves. The hard-court season for the men will start in Atlanta on July 24th, followed by Washington, Toronto, and Cincinnati. The ladies will start in San Jose on August 2nd, and then on to Montreal and Cincinnati.

In the meantime, the Olympic draw has really opened up for Novak Djokovic. Djokovic will need to contend with Medvedev, Tsitsipas, and Rublev, but other than that, he’ll be the absolute favorite to cruise into the final. Adding a Gold Medal will get him one step away from the Golden Slam. Surely, this is on his mind. Immediately after the Olympics, it’s off to the United States for Novak Djokovic. If he has the Gold Medal in hand, the US Open will be one of the most anticipated in history.

It may be as anticipated as the 2015 US Open. As many can remember, Serena had a chance to win the calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015 at the US Open, only to be denied by Roberta Vinci in the semifinal. Since that fateful day, Serena only managed to win two more Grand Slams.

Like always, don’t forget to jump on to the TennisPAL app to stay up to date on tennis news, find groups of friends to play with, and get a virtual coach to help with your tennis game.