Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard will play at the Rio Olympics next month, after weighing the risks posed by the Zika virus and security concerns in Brazil. “It was a hard decision for me and I definitely thought about all the pros and cons,” Bouchard told the media on
Monday at the weekend as she prepared to play in the WTA hardcourt tournament in Montreal.
“But at the end of the day, I knew in my heart I didn’t want to be sitting at home watching the Olympics on TV. Also knowing I might have two or three Olympics in my career, I felt that the decision to go was the right one.”
Bouchard is currently ranked 42nd in the world. Her compatriot Milos Raonic, Romania’s Simona Halep and Czechs Tomas Berdych and Karolina Pliskova have all decided not to play in Rio, with Zika among the biggest concerns.
The mosquito-borne virus has been leaked to birth defects and, more rarely, neurological problems.
The men’s golf competition in Rio has been even harder hit than tennis by the withdrawal of the world’s top players. Top-ranked Australian Jason Day, Americans Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy have all elected to miss golf’s return to the Summer Games after 112 years.

Kerber gunning for Rio gold after landmark year
Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber is targeting Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro to build on a successful 2016 that has already seen the German capture her first Grand Slam title. The 28-year-old became the first German to win a Grand Slam crown since Steffi Graf in 1999 when she beat Serena Williams in the Melbourne final in January.
Kerber then lost to the American in the Wimbledon final a fortnight ago, and Williams, the top-ranked player in the world, is the defending Olympic champion and the name to beat in Rio. But Kerber, the world number two, is heading to Brazil buoyed by her success so far this year and eager to get amongst the medals when the Olympic tennis tournament starts on August 6. “I want to win a medal and gold would of course be an absolute dream,” Kerber said. “In London (the 2012 Olympics), it didn’t work out as I went out in the quarter-finals, but I have gained a lot of experience in the last few years. I am looking forward to playing in the doubles with Andrea Petkovic, but I’ll have to decide whether to play mixed doubles when I am there.”
Kerber says she has no complaints following her 7-5, 6-3 defeat to Williams in the Wimbledon final. “Of course, a bit of disappointment still remains. I played well, but Serena had the perfect reply,” said Kerber. “I didn’t lose the match, she won it and it showed me that I have arrived at this level.”