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All the consternation over whether golfs addition to the Summer Games makes sense raises the question of whether tennis -- another individual, professional sport with four annual Grand Slam tournaments and millions of dollars in prize money -- belongs, too.To U.S. Olympic mens tennis coach Jay Berger, the answer is obvious.When it first starts, people dont know what to expect. And I think golf is having this a little bit, in its infancy. They dont know what the meaning is going to be. But you look at the draw for the tennis, the very top players want to play, Berger said. Ive seen those top players cry for joy at having won a bronze medal. And Ive seen players cry because they lost a medal. When you get down to it, the Olympics kind of transfer to any sport, really.Sam Querrey, for one, isnt so sure.Querreys ranking made him eligible to be a member of Bergers team in Rio de Janeiro, where the draw is Thursday and play begins Saturday, but he opted to skip the trip to Brazil.His take, essentially: Let the gymnasts, swimmers and sprinters have their moment.I feel like the Olympics should only be sports where, like, thats the pinnacle of your sport: If you win the Olympics, theres nothing better, said Querrey, who ended Novak Djokovics 30-match Grand Slam winning streak at Wimbledon. But I think for tennis, you ask anyone, theyd rather win a Grand Slam over the Olympics.That might be the case for many folks, but certainly not for all.Venus Williams, who has won four gold medals, calls her Olympic success beyond anything I ever dreamed and places its importance always at the top -- above her seven major singles titles.The proudest moment for me, when they do the on-court announcements, she said, are the Olympic results.She and others would hate to see the International Olympic Committee, which brought tennis back in 1988 after a 64-year absence, drop the sport again.And make no mistake: The Olympics have helped tennis grow worldwide.If you look at whats happened from `88 to now, our sport has really become even more international because of the Olympic movement, International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty said, pointing to a more than 40 percent increase in the number of nations that belong to his organization.Just examine the WTA rankings. The week before Wimbledon in 1986, the top 100 women included 47 from the United States, and only 13 countries had more than one representative. The week before Wimbledon this year, the top 100 women included 14 Americans, and 21 countries had at least two members.Still, the sense that the Olympic tennis tournament is not all that much different from, well, any tournament held during any week is inescapable for some.The faces are, for the most part, familiar. So are the rules.The events -- mens and womens singles, mens and womens doubles, mixed doubles -- are found at each of the four Grand Slam tournaments. The U.S. Open starts a couple of weeks after the Rio competition ends and will be contested on the same surface, hard courts.All of which prompts suggestions for a format change.Have age restrictions of some sort, say, to promote future stars.Or take a break from Davis Cup and Fed Cup in Olympic years and use something similar to their setup.I dont think what we have now is broken, WTA CEO Steve Simon said, but I do think that the conversation about format, and potentially a team format, has merit.International Tennis Hall of Fame CEO Todd Martin, who calls barely missing out on participating in singles at Atlanta in 1996 one of my great disappointments, thinks Olympic tennis needs to do something different to make it look like something different.I look at it and say, `Why should the Olympics not be a team event? Other sports figure out how to make it a team event, said Martin, the 1999 U.S. Open runner-up. In tennis, we figure out how to make it an individual event, just like Roland Garros, just like Wimbledon.One proposal: Each country could have three two-person teams in mens and womens tennis that would face off in singles and doubles.Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time major champion from Russia, wants a totally different format and two full weeks of Olympic tennis, instead of nine days.Her father coached Olympic cyclists; her brother won a silver in cycling. So she insists on this: Tennis must remain in the Summer Games.Being from my family, I know how important the Olympics are and how big a deal the Olympics are, Kuznetsova said. So for me, tennis of course has to be in the Olympics. For Russians, winning a gold medal would be like winning a Grand Slam.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Cheap Red Sox Jerseys . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Fake Red Sox Jerseys . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. https://www.cheapredsox.com/ . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Boston Red Sox Shirts . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. Boston Red Sox Pro Shop . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. BOSTON -- Aaron Sanchez of the Toronto Blue Jays had his no-hitter broken up with two outs in the sixth inning when Hanley Ramirez hit a home run over the left-field foul pole.Although Sanchez argued the ball was foul, third base umpire Quinn Wolcott immediately signaled for a homer. After a review, the call stood.The next batter, Xander Bogaerts, singled.Sanchez struck out six, walked two and hit a battter through seven innings.dddddddddddd The game was tied 1-1.Toronto can clinch a wild-card spot by beating the AL East champion Red Sox.Sanchez missed two weeks in September because of a blister before starting twice late in the month. He is in contention for the AL ERA title. ' ' '