LONDON — The ATP will award rankings points to players who compete at the Beijing Olympics.
The awarding of points is not new, but it is seen as a way to ensure top players attend 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,” ATP executive chairman Etienne de Villiers said Monday in a statement.
The WTA announced in July it would award rankings points to its Olympians.
Points also were awarded at the 2000 Sydney Games and the 2004 Athens Games.
The ATP and the International Tennis Federation said the world rankings will be used as a guide to determine who gets the 56 spots in the 64-player field in both men’s and women’s singles competitions in Beijing.
Six of the remaining eight spots will be given out by the ITF’s Olympic Committee, while the other two berths will be awarded by the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees and the ITF.
Each country, however, is limited to a maximum of six players, with up to four competing in the singles tournament and up to two teams in doubles.
“The 2008 Olympic tennis event will have the best quality field possible,” ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said.
The Olympic tennis event starts Aug. 10, two days after the opening ceremony, and will finish Aug. 17.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Source: ATP to award rankings points for Olympics play
