Te tennis tournaments at the Olympics were wonderful. Full of great action, tense matches and emotional reactions – both in victory and in defeat – from most of the players.
The US Open, which begins on Monday in New York, will have a tall order to match some of the more dramatic moments in Rio.
Tennis achieved a lot in justifying again that it does have a place at the Olympics, and the top players do care deeply about the prospect of winning a medal, despite it not being a grand slam title.
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One thing to come out of the Olympics was the sign that Rafael Nadal appears to have put his recent injury problems behind him.
The wrist injury that forced the 14-time major winner out of the French Open and then to miss Wimbledon completely seemed to be behind him following his run to fourth place in the singles and then the gold medal with Marc Lopez in the doubles.
He was on court for close to 20 hours during his time in Rio, and it certainly revives hope that he can be a factor at Flushing Meadows, where he has prevailed twice before, in 2010 and 2013.
But an air of realism should still hang over just what to expect from the world No 5.
He went deep in the singles draw in Rio, but the highest ranked player he beat was Gilles Simon, the current world No 37.
There was a lot to be happy about for Nadal in terms of getting hours on court under his belt, but you would have feared for his short-term prospects had he lost to one of Federico Delbonis (world No 43), Andreas Seppi (No 88), Simon or Thomaz Belucci (No 62) on his route to the semi-finals.
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It was great to see Nadal on court and playing well in Rio, and seeing the Spaniard in tears after winning the doubles final was one of the highlights of the Games.
But expecting him to follow this with a strong showing at the US Open could be bordering on unrealistic. He has not been beyond the quarter-finals at any major since winning his 14th grand slam at Roland Garros in June 2014.
His singles matches in Rio were three-set matches, in New York they are five setters, and that will be a different kind of physical demand for him to handle.
You have to go back to January 2015, at the Australian Open, when he came from two sets to one down to beat qualifier Tim Smyczek, for the last time the Spaniard won a singles match in five sets.
Given the fact that he is still some way from his best form, despite his efforts in Rio, you would have to anticipate that he will face at least one gruelling early encounter, that could go long or the distance, which will be a better indicator of his physical level than anything he face at the Olympics.
Nadal will say in public statements that he is going there to win, but, mentally, a run to the quarter-finals or even the semis would count as a qualified success.
With Roger Federer sidelined for the rest of the year, the sport would like to have a competitive Nadal pushing Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray at the top of the game for the rest of the year.
How realistic those hopes are will become a lot clearer over the next two weeks.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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