NEWS » cited by the citing commissioner.T

The Big 4 of mens tennis is enthusiastic about their sports place in the Olympics, unlike their counterparts in golf.Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all have participated in the Summer Games in the past, all own a medal, and all talk about that events importance to tennis every four years -- even if it already has four Grand Slam tournaments every year.And while Federer wont be in Rio, its only because he is sitting out the rest of the season entirely to protect his surgically repaired left knee.To get a sense of how these guys think, consider what Britains Murray said when he was asked about Brazil the day after winning Wimbledon for the second time.Ive loved being in the two Olympics that Ive been at, said the No. 2-ranked Murray, who won a gold in singles at the 2012 London Games. Rio is obviously a big, big goal of mine, and hopefully I can perform well there.The No. 1-ranked Djokovic won a singles bronze for Serbia at the 2008 Beijing Games, then came up just short of a medal four years ago.No. 3 Federer won gold for Switzerland in doubles with Stan Wawrinka eight years ago, and a silver in singles four years ago.No. 4 Nadal won a singles gold for Spain in Beijing, missed London because he was hurt, and appealed to the International Tennis Federation to allow him to compete in Rio after he failed to fulfill Davis Cup commitments because of injuries.Even if this quartet owns a combined 46 Grand Slam titles, the Olympics still matter to them. Much will be made of the contrast between this groups interest in the Summer Games and what happened in golf, which will be missing Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy in Rio.Olympic Games are the most renowned and most prominent sports event in the history of sport. No question about it. There is no bigger sports event than Olympic Games, Djokovic said. For me, as a professional athlete, its a huge honor to be part of it.Here are some things to know about tennis at the Rio Olympics:WHOS MISSINGThere are some noteworthy players in addition to Federer who wont be there: Bob and Mike Bryan, the American twins who won gold in doubles four years ago, plus nine of the top 22 men in the July 25 ATP singles rankings. That includes Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic of Canada; Wimbledon semifinalist Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic; the top American man, John Isner; Australias best two tennis players, Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic; and Dominic Thiem, who would have given Austria a chance at a medal. Four of the top 20 women are missing, as is five-time major champion Maria Sharapova, who is serving a doping ban.MIXING IT UPNo one will know exactly who is competing in mixed doubles until everyone is in Rio. Thats because the sign-in happens there. Its limited to 16 teams, and the possibilities are intriguing. The expectation is that, if hes healthy, Nadal will team with French Open champion Garbine Muguruza. The bad news: It sounds as if the Williams sisters will not enter that event.AGE IS JUST A NUMBERIf 34-year-old Serena Williams or 36-year-old Venus Williams wins a gold medal, either would be the third-oldest woman to collect an Olympic title in tennis. Winifred McNair was 43 when she won womens doubles for Britain all the way back in 1920, and Hazel Wightman was 37 when she won the same event for the U.S. four years later. Each Williams already owns four medals (all gold), so adding two more -- theyre both entered in singles and doubles -- would put either in first place for most tennis medals in Olympic history. Kathleen McKane won five medals (one gold) in the 1920s.MOST APPEARANCESIndias Leander Paes will be appearing in his record-extending seventh Olympic tennis competition, pairing in mens doubles with Rohan Bopanna. Paes owns one medal, a bronze in singles at the 1996 Atlanta Games. In Grand Slam action, he has won eight titles in mens doubles, and another 10 in mixed doubles.BACK-TO-BACK?No player has won two consecutive gold medals in singles. Murray and Serena Williams will try to change that this time.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Authentic Custom Dolphins Jersey . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Christian Wilkins Jersey Large . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. http://www.customdolphinsjersey.com/ .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Dolphins Jerseys China .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Cheap Custom Dolphins Jersey .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Springboks lock Lood De Jager has been suspended for one week after SANZAAR accepted a guilty plea for a dangerous tackle during the Springboks loss to the All Blacks on Sunday morning.The incident occurred in the 72nd minute when De Jager was given a yellow card for the act and was later cited by the citing commissioner.The suspension means the 23-year-old will not be available for the Springboks next game against the Barbarians at Twickenham on November 5.SANZAAR Duty Judicial Officer Adam Casselden SC found that the lock had contravened law 10.4 (h): a player must not charge into a ruck or maul. Charging includes any contact made without the use of arms, or without grasping a player.Casselden deemed the act merited a low-end entrry point of two weeks, but due to mitigating factors reduced the suspension to just one week.ddddddddddddWith respect to sanction I deemed the act of foul play merited a low-end entry point of two weeks. However, taking into account mitigating factors including the players early plea and his excellent disciplinary record I reduced the suspension to a period of one week.The player accepted my indication of sanction of one week, and is therefore suspended from all forms of rugby up to and including 5 November 2016 when he is next scheduled to play. The player is free to resume playing from 6 November 2016. ' ' '