Hoping for a Gold Fish, American Settles for Silver

Posted on August 23, 2004

Mardy Fish launched into a foul-mouthed tirade in the fifth set of the gold medal match Sunday at the Athens Olympics, causing a mental meltdown that cost the American the match 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 against an exhausted Nicolas Massu of Chile.

Massu's superhuman effort, after a long five-set doubles match roughly 12 hours earlier, was aided by a host of errors from Fish who was expected to overwhelm the spent Chilean.

Adding to Massu's unbelievable run was the fact he entered the Olympics with an 0-7 record on hardcourt in 2004.

"The best two days of my life," said Massu, who didn't get to sleep until 6:30 a.m. that morning after drug testing and a massage. "That's it. It's just amazing."

Massu took the maximum time during the changeovers, propping his feet up on a chair and munching energy bars and bananas.

"He just kept getting better and better," Fish said, "and more untired."

Fish's silver was the only medal for the American men or women, while Chile won three with Massu's gold, Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez's bronze, and the gold in doubles for Gonzo/Massu. It was the first career hardcourt singles title for Massu, and the first doubles title for both Massu and Gonzalez.

Massu playing 24 hours, 43 minutes of tennis over 11 matches in an exhibition of endurance and grit.

"Maybe he was playing a little cat-and-mouse in the beginning," Fish said. "I just don't understand how someone gets less and less tired, keeps going hour after hour. I'm in pretty good shape, and I was getting tired there at the end."

It was the second title on the year for Massu after the claycourt win at Kitzbuhel where he beat reigning French Open champ Gaston Gaudio in the final.

Sans Agassi, Hewitt Beats Unseeded Muller for ATP Washington Title
Former No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt made the most of Andre Agassi's semifinal exit at the ATP stop in Washington, on Sunday rolling past unseeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-3, 6-4 for his third title of the year.

The 23-year-old Adelaide native became the first Aussie to win in Washington since Tony Roche in 1972. It was Hewitt's first title since February, and moves him from 8 to No. 5 on the ATP Entry Rankings.

"It was nice to get another win, but my last final was only two weeks ago," said Hewitt, who lost to Agassi in the Masters Series-Cincinnati final. "I'm happy with how my game is progressing over these last few weeks on hardcourts. It's going well, I'm looking forward to the next week (in Long Island) and then the Open."

Muller was appearing in his career-first ATP final.

"I was too tight today. He was running everywhere," Muller said. "Sometimes, it was hopeless, I would have three or four shots in a row and every time the ball came back. You start to doubt a bit. I'm very happy, I played the best tournament of my career and beat Andre Agassi. I have some regrets from today, I could have played better, but I can't have everything. I did get to my first ATP final and beat Andre Agassi."

And by the way, added Muller, did I mention I beat Andre Agassi?

In the doubles final, Haggard/Koenig d. Parrott/Tursunov 7-6(3), 6-1 for their first title of the year as a team.

ATP Preview: Long Island
It wasn't tough to foresee Andre Agassi pulling from his Long Island commitment once he reached the semifinals last week at Washington. The pull by the American, who has been struggling with a bad hip, and the withdrawal by Olympic singles and doubles gold medalist Nicolas Massu leaves the seeds as Washington winner Lleyton Hewitt, Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, Juan Ignacio Chela, Olympic doubles bronze medalist Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, Fernando Verdasco and Luis Horna. First round matches of pseudo-interest are (8)Verdasco vs. Spanish countryman Al Martin, (4)Thai Fighter vs. Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze, (7)The Jackhammer vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and (6)Baby Goran vs. Russian comer Dmitry Tursunov.

In last year's final the top-seeded Thai Fighter beat the unseeded James Blake 6-2, 6-4 to successfully defend his title. Srichaphan is the lone returning champ in the field, with former winners of the event including former No. 1s Patrick Rafter (1998), Carlos Moya (1997), Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1995-94), Ivan Lendl (1991) and Stefan Edberg (1990).

On court Monday in Strong Island are Gambill vs. Gasquet, Benneteau vs. Enqvist, T.Martin vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, D.Sanchez vs. Ferreira, A.Martin vs. Verdasco, and Sargsian vs. Llodra.

Davenport Wins Cincinnati for Fourth Consecutive Title
Lindsay Davenport won her fourth successive title Sunday at the star-depleted Cincinnati stop, routinely brushing aside Russian Vera "Warren" Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 for her tour-leading sixth title of the year.

"She had a long match yesterday which probably was more to my benefit," Davenport said. "I held serve well, which let me go for shots in return games."

Davenport extended her win streak to 17 matches, upping her win-loss on the year to 50-6.

"I've had a great summer," Davenport said. "It's been beyond my wildest expectations. I'm really excited and feel energized."

In the doubles final, (3)Craybas/Weingartner edged Gagliardi/Groenefeld 7-5, 7-6(2) for their first title as a team.

China Wins Olympic Women's Doubles Gold in Tennis
China's first Olympic medal in tennis was gold Sunday when the No. 8-seeded team of Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun defeated No. 2 seeds Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-3, 6-3.

"It is unbelievable that we have this gold medal, and it was not easy as well," Sun said. "It is a great honor for us to have the first gold medal for the Olympic Games in tennis for China. We didn't expect that we can get the gold medal because you know there are excellent players in the world. We just did our best. In the end if we can concentrate on what you're doing, you would get it."

It was also the first title this year on the WTA Tour for the Chinese pair.

WTA Preview: New Haven
Jennifer Capriati beat Lindsay Davenport in last year's Pilot Pen at New Haven after Davenport was forced to retire with injury, and both players return in 2004 in what is a strong field for an event the week before a slam.

Davenport and Capriati are joined among the seeds by four Russians in Elena "That Second Serve Suffers from" Dementieva, Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova, Nadia Petrova and Elena "Lina" Bovina, along with Maggie Maleeva and Nathalie Dechy. Early-round matches of interest are a potential (1)Davenport vs. Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova in the second round, (WC)Lisa Raymond vs. Dinara "Little Sis" Safina, (3)Capriati vs. the Golovin-Perry winner, and (WC)Mashona "Little Sis" Washington vs. Meghann Shaughnessy (winner to face (4)Sharpaova).

Capriati (2003) is the lone returning New Haven champ.

Winners from the first day of play Sunday at New Haven were Frenchgirl Tatiana Golovin (d. (WC) Perry), Luxembourg's Claudine Schaul (d. Tanasugarn), and (7)Elena "Lina" Bovina (d. Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova).

On court Monday are Safina vs. Raymond, Maleeva vs. Kostanic, Shaughnessy vs. Washington in an all-American, Black vs. Petrova, Sylvia "The Whammer" Bammer vs. Marrero, Talaja vs. Morigami, Serna vs. Dechy, and Nagyova vs. Jankovic.

WTA Preview: Forest Hills
Seems the Ritzy West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills, the old site of the US Open, has bought itself a WTA Tour event. But if you get what you pay for their wallet can't be light, with no Top 25 players and only a 16-woman field for the Tier V event. Admission is free until the Saturday final ($10 a head), and play doesn't begin until Tuesday. The top eight players in the field according to the entry list are Emilie Loit, Elena Likhovtseva, Nicole Pratt, Lina Krasnoroutskaya, Kristina "You're a Fine Girl" Brandi, Maria Sanchez Lorenzo, Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues, and Virginia Ruano Pascual. OK, so that's why it's free.

"This is tremendous news for The West Side Tennis Club and for the City of New York. The success of last May's inaugural (exhibition) event proved to the USTA and to The West Side Tennis Club that there is a tremendous appetite for professional tennis here in New York," said The West Side Tennis Club president Jack Leibler.

The West Side Tennis Club has 39 courts on 4 different surfaces.

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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
As expected after winning the Masters Series-Cincinnati and reaching the semifinal at Washington, Andre Agassi has pulled from the ATP stop in Long Island this week: "While I had hoped to play next week, my results in the last two ATP tournaments have caused fatigue and forced me to re-evaluate my schedule as the US Open approaches." Nicolas Massu also pulled after winning the gold medal in singles and doubles at the Athens Olympics...R&B artist JoJo and singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw will perform as part of the annual Arthur Ashe Kids' Day the weekend before the start of the US Open...Martina Navratilova says the age bar is moving up: "The age is not 30 anymore. I think it's 40. Andre Agassi's doing it. There are plenty of baseball players, even football players. So I think the bar has been raised for both men and women. Many athletes are doing things at an advanced age, I'm just one of them. I think you'll see that more and more."...Stone to the USA Network golf geeks doing the hand-off to the Olympic tennis coverage, saying Nicolas Massu's appearance in the singles final has guaranteed Chile their first medal (Fernando Gonzalez had already won Chile a singles bronze, and the pair won the doubles gold)...According to the AP: "Justine Henin-Hardenne made her fans wait, but the new Olympic tennis champion eventually received a hero's homecoming Sunday from around 200 supporters at Brussels airport. Henin-Hardenne was met by a car on the runway and whisked away from the airport without passing through the arrivals hall packed with fans come to celebrate Henin-Hardenne's win, which gave Belgium its first gold medal of the Athens Games. Informed by police that her departure had left fans angry and disappointed, Henin-Hardenne turned the car around and returned to the terminal wearing her medal, to the cheers of her supporters. After signing autographs and chatting briefly with fans, Henin-Hardenne departed, declining to talk to journalists."...Andre Agassi will be the subject of an A&E Biography this week, and Andy Roddick will be featured on ESPN's SportsCentury...The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on CNBC featured a Maria Sharapova interview yesterday, with Donny asking the most inane teen beat questions imaginable. Stick to what you know Donny, celebrity hookers and "media scandal." Sharapova for her part had the I'm-a-hot-Russian-model-and-you're-an-idiot-look on her face for the teleconferenced interview...We can see an exhausted Nicolas Massu withdrawing from Long Island, but an "exhausted" Andre Agassi, who had a week off before last week in Washington?...From the AP: "Chileans celebrated on the streets of major cities on Sunday after Nicolas Massu won the men's singles tennis title in the Athens Games for the country's second ever Olympic gold medal, less than a day after the first...What would have been a quiet Sunday afternoon in the capital, Santiago, turned into a parade of honking cars with screaming fans waving Chilean flags, celebrating the latest success. The main avenue through the capital was crammed with crowds in a scene one bystander said was comparable to the street celebrations in the country after former military dictator Augusto Pinochet was voted out in a 1988 plebiscite...In the coastal resort city of Vina del Mar, an ecstatic crowd gathered outside the apartment building where Massu's family lives as his mother waved from the balcony."