There is nothing special about Olympic tennis and its inclusion in the calendar this year just interferes with player's schedules, Russian player Dmitry Tursunov said Tuesday.
On the men's tour, winning Olympic gold in London in August is worth fewer points than victory at second-tier events such as the Cincinnati, Indian Wells or Canada Masters tournaments.
"You can cheat yourself that the Olympics are a special event, but in fact this tournament is no different from the rest," Tursunov said.
"In other sports, an Olympic medal means that you are the champion. If you don't have it, then you're nobody. In tennis, it's not like that."
This year, the Olympic tennis will be held at Wimbledon, starting almost a month after the Grand Slam tournament there finishes.
The main men's events in between are either European clay-court events such as the Hamburg or Stuttgart tournaments or hard-court events like those in Los Angeles and Atlanta, and moving back to grass for the Olympics is disruptive, Tursunov said.
"After Wimbledon one group of players stays in Europe to play on clay courts and the other, including me, goes to America to play on hard courts."
"Two or three weeks later [we will] have to return to London and go on grass. All these flights, skipping from one court to the other. Unfortunately, this year's Olympics are very inconvenient for everyone."
The disruption was severe enough to ruin a player's season, he said.
"All your preparations for the season are put under threat. If you come to the Games but are left without a medal, then everything's gone down the drain."
Tursunov, the world No. 88, conceded that his low ranking meant he would struggle at the Olympics with a draw against a leading player, if he manages to make himself eligible.
Earlier Tuesday, 58th-ranked Go Soeda , winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the French Open and will now face either 29th seed Julien Benneteau of France or Moscow-born German player Mischa Zverev in the second round.
