Tokyo Olympics 2020: Empty stadiums, pandemic, scheduling get in the way of tennis players and Olympic dream

Roger Federer, Bianca Andreescu and Johanna Konta became the latest big names in tennis to pull out from competing at the Tokyo Olympics. "During the grass court season, I unfortunately experienced a setback with my knee, and have accepted that I must withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games. I am greatly disappointed, as it has been an honour and highlight of my career each time I have represented Switzerland. I have already begun rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to the tour later this summer," wrote Federer, who won a doubles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, on social media.

As tennis, largely based in the US and Europe, has moved to embracing some relaxations in movement and fans being allowed, entering the Tokyo bubble — with its extreme limitations — has not gone down well with many.

After winning Wimbledon, World No 1 Novak Djokovic was asked about his target of winning the Golden Slam but attempting to do so in an empty stadium. "Yeah, that's not a great news. I received that news yesterday or two days ago. That was really disappointing to hear," he said on Sunday.

"I also hear that there's going to be a lot of restrictions within the Village. Possibly you would not be able to see other athletes perform live. I can't even have my stringer that is very important part of my team. I can't have a stringer. I'm limited with the amount of people I can take in my team as well."

"I'll have to think about it. Right now, as I said, my plan was always to go to Olympic Games. But right now I'm a little bit divided. It's kind of 50/50 because of what I heard in the last couple days," he added.

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Australia's Nick Kyrgios will not be making his maiden Olympics appearance in Tokyo after picking up an injury at Wimbledon. He also said "playing in front of empty stadiums just doesn't sit right with me".

Canadian Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, cited concerns about the pandemic as her reason for opting out. "I have been dreaming of representing Canada at the Olympics since I was a little girl, but with all the challenges we are facing as it relates to the pandemic, I know that deep in my heart, this is the right decision to make for myself," she said in a statement.

Beyond the concerns about the pandemic and absence of fans, the schedule doesn't make things easy for the players either. There was a two-week gap between French Open and Wimbledon — a massive challenge in switching from clay courts to grass. And now the athletes planning to play the Olympics will have to recover and shift base to hard courts in less than two weeks - including World No 1 and Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty.

“I’m extremely proud to be on my first Olympic team,” Barty said as she attempts to become the first Australian to win a singles gold medal at the Olympics. “And I know we’re united, 490-odd Aussie Olympians going over as one team. I’m excited to be a part of that. And I’m excited to do Australians proud, as every other athlete will. I’m certainly looking forward to that experience.”

If the Aussie, or anyone else, makes the 1 August gold medal match, they have a week to move out and get ready for the US Open warm-up events starting with Montreal for the women and Toronto for the men.

The wear-and-tear of the season thus far, and of living in bubbles away from friends and family, has already taken a toll. Two-time gold medallist Rafael Nadal, who lost in the semi-final of the French Open, decided to skip both Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics. "The fact that there has only been 2 weeks between RG [Roland Garros] and Wimbledon, didn’t make it easier on my body to recuperate after the always demanding clay court season," the Spaniard tweeted.

"The Olympic Games always meant a lot and they were always a priority as a Sports person, I found the spirit that every sports person in the world wants to live. I personally had the chance to live 3 of them and had the honour to be the flag bearer for my country."

Also missing the Summer Games will be four-time gold medallist Serena Williams. Unlike the rest, she didn't offer an explanation for why she decided to skip the Tokyo edition. “There's a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision,” Williams said at the start of Wimbledon. “I don’t really want to — I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry.” One of the reasons raised was the inability to travel with her three-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.

Fellow mother on tour, Sania Mirza, who will compete in the women's doubles alongside Ankita Raina, said leaving her son Izhaan was something she had to do. "We are in difficult times and we have to make difficult decisions," Mirza said. "Leaving him at any time is difficult. I try to do it as little as possible."

"But if it's something I have to do, then that's what I will do. As working mothers, sometimes you have to do it. But never in my mind did I have any doubts about going (to Tokyo 2020). I was very sure."

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Beyond the more experienced players, some young players are not keeping the Olympics a priority. Italy's Jannik Sinner focused on his long term future in the game and wrote on Instagram, "... the reasoning behind my withdrawal is I that haven’t performed to the best of my ability in the last couple of tournaments and I need to focus on my development as a player. I need to take this time to work on my all-round game."

American Sebastian Korda, 21, will not be joining his golfer sisters Nelly and Jessica at the Tokyo Olympics. “We kind of just sat down with my whole team, with my dad (former Australian Open champion Petr Korda), with my agent (Patricio Apey) and Andre Agassi, and what's the best thing for me? Going into the US summer, we thought it was best just to stay in the States and play some tournaments leading up to the US Open,” Korda said at Wimbledon.

Other big names confirmed to be skipping the Olympics are Sofia Kenin, Simona Halep, Madison Keys, Dominic Thiem, Denis Shapovalov, Roberto Bautista Agut, Casper Ruud, David Goffin, Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic.