London 2012 Olympic Games: No Tennis Action For Massu

Veteran Chilean tennis player Nicolás Massu will not compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced the official list of players who will join the London 2012 Olympic Games. The committee confirmed that Massú, called “Vampiro” by Chilean fans, did not receive an invitation for the Games.

Massú stated that he was not surprised to be passed over for the Olympic spot.

“Being injured is the main reason for my not going to London,” the Viña del Mar native told Chilean newspaper El Mercurio.

“I really wanted to compete, but it’s also true that since last October I’ve only competed in two tournaments.” He was eliminated in the first round in the ATP tournament in Viña del Mar.

Massú has been a professional tennis player since 1997, and has represented Chile in the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympic Games. He won two gold medals in Athens, making Massú the only male tennis star to have won both singles and doubles gold medals in the same Olympic Games. The doubles was one alongside Fernando González, who retired earlier this year.

This season, the athlete, once ranked number nine in the world, was only able to play in three games. He lost both sets of games in which he competed. He is now ranked 625 in the world due, largely, to a crippling elbow injury that sidelined him for most of 2012.

Although Massú won’t be on the Olympic tennis court this year, he’ll still make his mark on London in 2012. The city has honored him by naming one of their Tube stations after the Chilean player.