Mens Tennis Getting Chile at the Athens Olympics

Posted on August 20, 2004

The upsets kept coming Thursday at the Athens Olympics, with front-running No. 3 seed Carlos Moya ousted by Chile's No. 10 Nicolas Massu 6-2, 7-5, putting Chile in a position to win its first-ever gold.

The Olympics will not have a former No. 1-ranked winner taking home the gold in Athens as it did with Andre Agassi in 1996 and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 2000.

"That was one of the best matches I have ever played," said Massu, better known for his claycourt prowess. "Now I want to go on and win the tournament."

Chile is guaranteed a tennis medal for the first time after another Chilean, No. 16 Fernando "The Flayin' Chilean" Gonzalez, followed up his upset of Andy Roddick by beating No. 8 Sebastien "The Skateboard Kid" Grosjean 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

American Mardy Fish advanced to the medal round by beating Mikhail Youzhny, while Taylor Dent was a winner against Tomas Berdych, guaranteeing the Americans at least one medal.

"People have asked me, 'What would you rather do: win the gold medal or win a Grand Slam?"' Fish said. "I've always said it would be really cool to stand on the podium with a gold medal around your neck (during) the national anthem."

Dent said he wouldn't have minded other members of the U.S. team sticking around after their losses to offer support.

"It was disappointing to see part of the team go out," said Dent, who sat in the stands to root for Fish after completing his victory. "I wish they were all here."

In the men's doubles semifinals, unseeded Chileans Gonzalez/Massu defeated Croats Mario Ancic/Ivan Ljubicic, and unseeded Germans Nicolas Kiefer/Rainer Schuettler shocked (5)Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes of India.

"We played very badly and never had rhythm in the match," Bhupathi said. "Our opponents played unexpectedly well."

On tap for the Friday semis is Chile vs. the U.S. in (10)Massu vs. Dent and (16)Gonzalez vs. Fish, both first-time meetings. In doubles the bronze medal doubles match will be Croats (WC)Ancic/Ljubicic vs. India's (5)Bhupathi/Paes.

Agassi Wins for Quarterfinal Berth at ATP Washington
Top-seeded Andre Agassi powered his way into the quarterfinals Thursday at the ATP stop in Washington, pounding Dane Kristian Pless 6-4, 6-2.

Agassi fired 12 aces and was never broken in the match.

"The only thing better up a set, is two sets," said Agassi, who extended his win streak to eight after the title at the Masters Series-Cincinnati. "While I can take a certain amount of confidence from the fact that he was discouraged, that doesn't have much relevance in my mind unless I execute and finish it off."

Also into the quarters were un-seeds Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland (d. (8)Tursunov in two breakers), Gilles Muller in his first ATP QF (d. Gambill in three), and Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. Garcia).

Friday's quarterfinals are (7)Saulnier vs. (2)Hewitt, "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter vs. (4)Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, (1)Agassi vs. Mathieu, and Muller vs. (Q)Kratochvil.

Henin, Mauresmo One Step From Final at Athens Olympics
The women's singles at the 2004 Olympics is one step away from a No. 1 vs. No. 2 dream final as top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Pierce) and No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo (d. (5)Kuznetsova in three) moved into the semifinals Thursday at Athens.

"It's going to be a tough mission for me," Henin said. "But I am feeling good...playing well, and I really want to win a medal."

The Belgian and Frenchwoman were joined in the semis by Russian No. 3 seed Anastasia Myskina (d. (11)Schiavone, dropping only three games), and unseeded Aussie Alicia Molik (d. (8)Sugiyama) moving into the medal round.

Winners in the doubles quarterfinals were Argentines (7)Paola Suarez/Patricia Tarabini (d. Dechy/Testud in three), (5)Shinobu Asagoe/Ai Sugiyama of Japan (d. (3)Navratilova/Raymond in three), (8)Ting Li/Tian Tian Sun of China (d. (4)Molik/Stubbs), and Spaniards (2)Conchita Martinez/Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. Yan/Zheng).

"It's a great experience," Navratilova said. "I just wish we had done better."

In the singles semifinals the reigning US Open champ (1)H-H will face the reigning French Open winner (3)Myskina (H-H has won 5 of the 7 meetings, including the last two), with (2)Mauresmo against Molik (tied 1-1, with both matches this year on hardcourt).

"She beat me like two or three weeks ago," Mauresmo said. "So I have a good revenge to take...It's going to be a good one. I am playing well...You know, physically and mentally it was a tough match for me today and I got over it."

Rusty Davenport Into Quarterfinals at WTA Cincinnati
Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport looked a bit rusty after her Thursday start at the WTA stop in Cincinnati, but pulled through for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over American countrywoman (WC)Lilia Osterloh to advance into the quarterfinals.

"I felt a little sluggish, and I wasn't hitting the ball cleanly," said Davenport, who extended her winning streak to 15 matches. "The court was pretty fast. I definitely haven't been hitting on a court that fast."

Other winners on the day were seeds (2)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva (d. (LL)Ant. Serra "Nevada" Zanetti), (7)Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta (d. Rita "Ain't It" Grande in three), unseeded American Laura Granville (d. (5)Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova), and Chinese qualifier Shuai Peng (d. Jidkova 6-1 in the third).

Friday's quarterfinals line up as Sfar vs. Frazier, Davenport vs. Pennetta, Peng vs. Zvonareva, and Bartoli vs. Granville.

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