Tennis Getting Chile at Athens OlympicsPosted 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. |
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