Chilean Gonzo Beats Dent, Germans for Two Medals at Athens Olympics

Posted on August 22, 2004

Chile's Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez rode the wave of soccer-like emotion from the Chilean supporters Saturday in the bronze medal singles match, fighting off two match points to the strains of "Chi-chi-chi! Le-le-le! Chi-le!" to outlast American Taylor Dent 6-4, 2-6, 16-14 in a 3-1/2 hour marathon.

It was the first medal of the 2004 Athens Olympics for Chile.

The No. 16-seeded Gonzo served for the match at 5-4 then at 6-5 in the third but was thwarted by the unseeded Dent who rushed the net with abandon.

"I can't believe I lost," Dent said. "It was longest match I've played in terms of a set. It was 16-14, is that it? It was a good match. It was a shame I lost, but it was fun to be a part of."

Gonzalez then turned around and teamed with countryman Nicolas Massu to defeat Germans Nicolas Kiefer/Rainer "Shine" Schuettler in a marathon 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 for the doubles gold.

"What a day for Chile," Gonzo said. "What a tremendous amount of emotions in one day. At the beginning of the (doubles) match, I was very tired, and I'm still tired. It was difficult to move."

Today's men's gold medal match will feature a likely-exhausted No. 10 Massu against unseeded American Mardy Fish, who has won their only career meeting.

"I have to go to doping control, get a massage, then try to sleep, which won't be easy, because of the adrenaline," Massu said after his doubles win. "It's going to be complicated."

Agassi Stunned by Unseeded Muller at ATP Washington
Luxembourg's Gilles Muller stunned top-seeded Andre Agassi 6-4, 7-5 Saturday to reach the final of the ATP stop at Washington.

The 6-foot-5 Muller uncorked a big left-handed game against Agassi in their first meeting.

"It's always tough when you've never played someone before," Agassi said. "You have to stay solid to see how his game develops."

Muller, ranked outside the Top 100, says he entered the match-up unafraid.

"When I entered the court, I entered to win," Muller said. "I didn't miss so many balls and at the break points, I played very good."

In Sunday's final the unseeded Muller will face No. 2 seed Lleyton Hewitt, who beat No. 4 Robby Ginepri 6-3, 6-4. It will be a first-time meeting between Muller and the former No. 1 Aussie.

The doubles final will be Haggard/Koenig vs. Parrott/Tursunov.

Henin-Hardenne Rolls Mauresmo for Gold Medal at Athens Olympics
In the women's gold medal final, world No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne let No. 2-ranked Amelie Mauresmo do all the choking, rolling over Frenchwoman 6-3, 6-3 in an impressive return after a lengthy injury lay-off.

"Three weeks ago I didn't know if I was coming here and now I'm the Olympic champion so it is amazing," Henin-Hardenne said.

It is the fifth title of the year for H-H, tying her with Lindsay Davenport for the lead on the WTA Tour.

"I still do not realize how I feel," Henin-Hardenne said. "I need a little bit more time to realize what happened. I can tell you it's totally different from a Grand Slam. I cannot tell you if it's better or not because it's a different feeling. I think it's been a great atmosphere the whole week. I had good feelings the whole week."

Mauresmo was complimentary after the loss.

"She didn't give me much chance to develop my own game," Mauresmo said. "Well done to her. I take my hat off to her. She did well."

In the bronze medal match, unseeded Aussie Alicia Molik beat lackluster No. 3 seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-3, 6-4. Myskina looked like she still hadn't recovered from the previous day, leading the eventual gold medal winner Henin-Hardenne 5-1 in the third set before choking the match away.

"Today was a pretty special moment, because if I came out and lost, I wouldn't have anything to remember the Olympics by," said Molik, the winner of Australia's first medal in singles. "My bronze will be something I cherish for the rest of my life."

In the women's doubles bronze match, (7)Paola Suarez/Patricia Tarabini of Argentina beat (5)Shinobu Asagoe/Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-3, 6-3.

On court Sunday is the gold medal doubles match of (8)Ting Li/Tian Tian Sun of China against (2)Conchita Martinez/Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.

Davenport, Zvonareva Square Off in WTA Cincinnati Final
Former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport benefited from a walkover in the Saturday semifinal at the WTA stop in Cincinnati when No. 4 seed Marion Bartoli pulled from the match with blisters on her hand.

"I'm a little disappointed not to be able to play," Davenport said. "I came here to play. It's a little disappointing for everybody, especially Marion."

In the final the top-seeded American will face No. 2-seeded Russian Vera "Warren" Zvonareva, who outlasted No. 3 Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier 6-1 in the third.

"I played the first couple of games really well," Zvonareva said. "Then I started making so many mistakes that I didn't know what to do. I finally found my game in the third set."

Davenport has beaten Zvonareva in all four of their meetings, including three already this year.

The doubles final will be Gagliardi/Groenefeld vs. (3)Craybas/Weingartner.

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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Props to NBC/USA Network in the states for getting the men's bronze medal match on live Saturday, then the women's gold, then the men's doubles gold...Watching Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez contest the men's bronze match against Taylor Dent, and with the Chileans in the gold medal doubles match, one has to ask when the hell did Gonzo suddenly become one of the best returners on tour? Gonzalez gave Dent all kids of problems with his return, and his return in the doubles was tremendous, yet he is not to be seen in any of the four return of serve categories on the ATP MatchFacts. His countryman Nicolas Massu does rate, at No. 7 on tour in 'Points Returning Second Serve,' and No. 9 in 'Return Games Won.'...Why is Mary Carillo not up front in the booth for NBC's Olympic tennis coverage with bozos Barry MacKay and Jim Courier?...Scott Riley of the Houston Chronicle: "If the 2004 Games were such a big tennis deal, you'd also see the likes of Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati on hand in Greece, but, instead, these players are either competing elsewhere or pulled out of Athens citing "injuries."" Yeah, good point, Serena is probably faking after that knee "surgery" she had, eh? You guys at the Chronicle have uncovered a conspiracy! Idiots...The ATP stop in Long Island was an exhibition prior to 1990, so don't believe the wire stories saying Ivan Lendl won four titles in the '80s...The New York Times had a headline that Nicolas Kiefer was playing Long Island this week, but we don't see him in the draw or on the pull list, sorry Gray Lady, fire up the corrections box...For you Harsh Mankad fans out there, the 24-year-old is now the top-ranked player from India, surpassing Prakash Amritraj on the ATP Rankings: "This is my highest ranking and so you can say this is the best phase of my career. Tennis-wise, I feel like I have been playing well but also within my capability and so I feel like this is just the beginning of my climb up the ranks."...How great is that Nike commercial where all the girls morph into the ball-crunching Serena in an attempt to impress their handsome coach? Whoever popped that one out for their ad agency deserves (another) raise...Hey NBC/USA Network, for future reference, keep the game score graphic up on the screen in the corner so viewers aren't guessing all match...What is up with the crazy-ass 16-draw WTA-sanctioned Forest Hills Women's Tennis Classic event next week that starts on Tuesday?...If you cringe at racquet technology ruining tennis, hope you missed the Olympic men's doubles final where the Babolat-wielding Chileans Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu served and STAYED BACK during most of the match. Playing a style normally seen only in club-level women's doubles, the Chileans instead of rushing the net stuck to the baseline, taking giant cuts and allowing Germans Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler to make volley errors. The Germans would also stay back on some of their returns, resulting in numerous one-up, one-back points normally seen in junior varsity high school matches. "Hold on a second, men's doubles, there were four players at the baseline!" said NBC commentator Jim Courier after one point where the Chileans successfully lobbed over the Germans but just stood at the baseline. With the racquet technology, unfortunately it makes sense, with the Chileans thinking 'Why come to the net and risk a volley error when I can hit the ball through a fence with this racquet?' The strategy paid off earlier in the tournament when the Chileans upset No. 1 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the U.S., and it paid off again when they beat the Germans in five sets for the gold...Did you hear NBC Commentator Barry MacKay saying that the Olympic doubles was not a proper tournament title, comparing it to the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf? Hey Barry, the Olympics has ranking points, therefore it's a tournament, the World Team Cup does not -- get with the program...Aussie Alicia Molik after winning the bronze in singles: "I'm not usually an emotional person. I cried after that. I cried right at the end and I think I reduced my team to tears, as well, I'd have to say. It was very emotional and I probably will still be emotional for the rest of the day. I guess it's a mixture of satisfaction, it's a mixture of relief, it's a mixture of I guess a reward for hard work and the hours and difficult times that I've had. I guess the time I've dedicated to my sport and tennis, my profession. I love it so much. So to finally get a reward I guess is an incredible feeling."...Lleyton Hewitt is trying to become the first Aussie to win in Washington since Tony Roche in 1972. Gilles Muller is the first man from Luxembourg to reach an ATP final, this week in Washington.