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Old 08-13-2008, 05:48 AM   #1
styla21
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Default Olympics - Tennis Results & News

August 12, 2008 3 wins for Venus, Serena at Beijing Olympics

Even by the lofty standards of the Williams sisters, three victories at the Olympics is a good day's work. They won in singles and doubles Tuesday, and the toughest match was the one they played together. Venus and Serena rallied in first-round doubles to beat Iveta Benesova and Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Earlier, the Williamses won second-round singles matches. Serena beat Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 6-0, and Venus swept Benesova 6-1, 6-4.
The sisters could meet in Saturday's singles final.
"That would be fantastic," Venus said. "Obviously, it's a long ways away, but the third round makes it closer. I'm really excited for both of us to be playing really well for the U.S."
In men's singles, No. 1-seeded Roger Federer earned an Olympic rematch Wednesday against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. Federer wept after losing to Berdych in the second round at the Athens Games four years ago.
"He has got a great game," Federer said. "Obviously I'm aware of the danger."
This time they'll meet in the third round. Federer advanced by beating Rafael Arevalo of El Salvador 6-2, 6-4. Berdych, seeded 17th, defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 7-6 (4).
No. 2 Rafael Nadal sustained his summer surge by defeating Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-2.
"Very happy about my performance," Nadal said. "I think I play one of my best matches in the last weeks on hard court."
This year's French Open and Wimbledon champion, Nadal is assured of climbing to No. 1 in the rankings next week, ending Federer's 4 1/2-year reign.
Nadal and Federer seek their first Olympic medal, while the Williamses are trying to add to the family collection. They won the gold in doubles at Sydney in 2000, and Venus won the singles that year.
"I've never played singles at the Olympics, so this has been really cool for me," Serena said. "Every time I walk out there, it's like I'm playing in my match, but at the same time I have the whole U.S. team on my side. It's good. I really like that feeling."
First-time Olympian James Blake, the lone remaining U.S. player in men's singles, beat Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3 in a late-night match. That gave the Americans a 6-0 record for the day.
"Hopefully it continues Wednesday and the next day," Blake said. "And hopefully some of us will hear the national anthem at the end of the week."
Americans Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber won their first-round doubles match, beating Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska of Poland 6-2, 6-1. Davenport said a knee injury that forced her to withdraw from singles last week didn't bother her in the match.
"It has slowly been feeling better," she said. "It's hard to train for singles and always dealing with swelling. I've just really been playing careful with it. I really wanted to be here in whatever capacity it was, and it became painfully obvious to me that role was doubles. I was very happy to accept that and move forward."
No. 1-seeded Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States won their opening match in doubles, defeating Mark Knowles and Devin Mullings of the Bahamas 6-2, 6-1.
In women's singles, new No. 1 Jelena Jankovic beat Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko 7-5, 6-1. Jankovic supplanted Ana Ivanovic atop the rankings Monday.
On the men's side, No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Rainer Schuettler of Germany 6-4, 6-2.
With the temperature rising and the sun making its first appearance at the Beijing Games, the stands became a sea of fluttering Chinese fans — the hand-held kind — for Serena Williams' morning match on cozy Court 1.
"It was early," she said. "But with the time difference, I'm still waking up, like, at 5 in the morning. So it's good. I like the early matches."
She was done in 44 minutes. From 2-2, Williams won 40 of the final 49 points and 10 consecutive games. She whacked service winners, overpowered Stosur from both wings on the baseline and came forward for an overhead slam that prompted an appreciative "Ooooh" from the crowd.
Williams punctuated her best shots with a fist pump. She made the gesture one last time after ripping a backhand return winner on match point, then shouted "Come on!" as she trotted toward the net and into the round of 16.
Williams lost just five points in the second set, and dropped only six points on her serve in the match.
"My way of improving on it is to keep it up," said Williams, who is seeded fourth. "I played really clean matches in the past, the next one would be kind of streaky. I don't want to do that any more. I just want to keep playing the same consistency."
No. 7-seeded Venus Williams was less dominating because she struggled with her forehand and second serve, hitting six double-faults. But she never faced a break point and lost only two of 24 points on her first serve.
"I felt like any time that I needed to serve well, I did — if I was down love-30, or a 30-all point," she said. "That's good for me going on in the later rounds, that I'm tough on my serve."
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Old 08-13-2008, 02:36 PM   #2
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Federer avenges Athens loss, Nadal advances
BEIJING (AP)—Perhaps Roger Federer’s not washed up yet.

Signaling his recent tailspin may be over, Federer avenged a defeat four years ago at the Olympics by beating Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-6 (4) Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals.

It was Federer’s biggest victory since he lost to Rafael Nadal in an epic Wimbledon final last month.

Federer wept after losing to Berdych in the second round at the Athens Games in 2004. This time he was shouting “Yes!” and punching the air after he smacked a service winner on match point to finish off Berdych.

“Of course you have memories of such a big tournament and losing,” Federer said. “He’s a good player. So I’m very happy with this win, because I think this was the first true test in this tournament.”

Nadal also advanced, digging out of a hole in a pivotal service game and beating Igor Andreev of Russia, 6-4, 6-2. Venus and Serena Williams won to remain on course for a sibling showdown in the women’s final Saturday.
Nadal and Federer could meet for the gold medal Sunday. Regardless of the tournament outcome, Nadal is assured of climbing to No. 1 in the rankings next week, ending Federer’s 4 1/2 -year reign.

Federer will next face No. 8 James Blake, who advanced by beating No. 10 Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-2. Blake, the lone U.S. male to survive the first round of singles, is 0-8 against Federer and has won only one of their 22 sets.

“If he’s too good for me, he’s too good for me,” Blake said. “Every time at the beginning of each match, I’ve felt like I could come out on top.”

Blake is part of an American team that has gone 11-0 the past two days. The Bryan brothers won in doubles, as did Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber.

No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who could face Nadal in the semifinals, beat No. 13 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 7-6 (3), 6-3.

No. 4 Serena Williams busted a racket in frustration over a slow start, then rallied to beat 18-year-old Alize Cornet of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Williams’ outburst came as she fell behind 5-1 in the first set.

“I’ve been really working on my temper,” she said. “But I was just making so many errors, and I wasn’t practicing like that at all. It came to a point, I think I hit a backhand in the net, and I had just had enough.”

Williams gradually tamed her erratic groundstrokes, and after managing a service break in the opening game of the final set, she held in five consecutive games for the victory.

Venus Williams, playing her first tournament since winning Wimbledon for the fifth time, also reached the final eight by defeating No. 12 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-2. Venus, seeded seventh, is seeking to add to her Olympic medal collection after winning the doubles with her sister and the singles at Sydney in 2000.

“It’s only every four years, so now is the time to really play well,” she said.

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who this week achieved the No. 1 ranking for the first time, beat No. 16 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 7-5, 6-1. Jankovic’s next opponent will be No. 6 Dinara Safina of Russia, riding a 13-match winning streak after beating Zheng Jie of China 6-4, 6-3.

In doubles, top-seeded Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States beat Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-6 (2), 6-4. Davenport and Huber eliminated Victoria Azarenka and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

“It’s looking great for the Americans the past couple of days,” Mike Bryan said. “It would be great if we could finish up strong here and walk away with a few medals.”

Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka won their doubles match, which finished at 11 p.m. Federer then complained about a schedule that will require him to play 11 matches in seven days if he keeps winning.

“I find it a little bit ridiculous,” Federer said. “I don’t understand why we don’t play such a big tournament over 10 days maybe. I think this is asking just a little bit too much.”

Nadal and doubles partner Tommy Robredo lost to Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione of Australian 6-2, 7-6 (5).

In the day’s showcase match, Federer broke Berdych for a 4-2 lead in the first set and let out a guttural “hmmmpf,” sounding as though he was lifting a heavy load off his shoulders. Which is exactly what he’s trying to do in Beijing.

The stylish Swiss seeks his first medal after getting shut out at Sydney and Athens. He’s also trying to end a slump that has left him without a major title this year, stalling his career total at 12, two shy of Pete Sampras’ record.

Federer hit three aces in the final game of the first set, but his serve briefly went haywire two games later. He had three double-faults—more than he often hits in an entire match—and fell behind 3-0.

But those were his only double-faults, and he otherwise served well, breaking back in the fifth game and holding the rest of the way. In the tiebreaker he rallied from 3-1 down while hitting three service winners and his 11th ace.

Since losing to Berdych in Athens, Federer has beaten the Czech seven consecutive times while losing only one set.

“I got it out of my system, I guess, the first time I beat him,” Federer said. “It was nice to get him back, I guess, on the Olympic level.”
The results were great today for the top seeds. I didn't get to see any of the matches as there's no coverage here in the country. We'll we get any tennis matches on HD for downloading?
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Old 08-13-2008, 08:44 PM   #3
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Unhappy Sharapova Out of Olympics

International tennis star Maria Sharapova will miss the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of a shoulder injury sustained during the WTA Rogers Open in Montreal, Canada.
Sharapova, 21, defeated Poland's Marta Domachowska during the second round of the Open, but was in pain during the three-hour match.
"This is something that needs a lot of time to heal. It really hurts me to say I have to miss the Olympics," she said on her official website, according to the BBC. "After Wednesday's match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder." "There are so many mixed feelings because on Wednesday night they were almost positive there was something wrong with my nerve, which could have ultimately been much more serious," Sharapova said, according to The Daily Telegraph. "But after Thursday morning's tests, for the first time in a while, they were able to give me a different answer and a different problem. This is something that needs a lot of time to heal. It really hurts me to say I have to miss the Olympics."
The Associated Press reports that Sharapova, three-time Grand Slam champion, has has two small tears in tendons in her shoulder, discovered through an MRI exam and other medical tests.
The tennis section of the Olympics will start on August 11 and run through to August 15. The U.S. Open tournament will start Aug. 25 and the Associated Press reports that Sharapova may also miss that tournament.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Sharapova joins former world No 1 and Athens Olympic silver medalist Amelie Mauresmo and fellow French star Mary Pierce on a list of tennis players not competing in the 2008 Olympics.
The Kommersant
reported Friday that Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina will play for Russia in Beijing.
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Old 08-14-2008, 07:05 AM   #4
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Sharapova will also miss the upcoming US Open. She's currently no. 5 but due to her injury, she could fall further.

It's tougher for Ana Ivanovic. She already arrived at Beijing and participated in the opening ceremonies. But due to her inflamed right hand, she had to pull out even before she started her first match
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Old 08-14-2008, 08:08 PM   #5
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Federer hit by shock Olympic loss




Roger Federer's disappointing season continued as his hopes of winning Olympic gold in the men's singles were ended by an inspired James Blake.
Blake had not beaten the top seed in eight previous attempts but won their quarter-final 6-4 7-6 and will play Fernando Gonzalez in the semi-finals.
Second seed Rafael Nadal will play Novak Djokovic in the other semi-final.
Spaniard Nadal beat Jurgen Melzer 6-0 6-4 and Djokovic, from Serbia, defeated Gael Monfils 4-6 6-1 6-4.
In the other quarter-final 12th seed Gonzalez, who is from Chile and claimed the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics, cruised past Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-4.

Federer, who will lose his world number one ranking to Nadal on Monday, made a number of unforced errors and will need a dramatic reversal in fortunes if he is to successfully defend his US Open title later this month.
"It's a big disappointment obviously. The Olympics was one of the goals of the season for me. So obviously the quarter-finals is not going to do it," he said.
"But I've still got to look forward to the US Open. I still have that and then the Masters Cup in Shanghai to really do well now and try and save my season.
"I think James played well. I can only really say how well he played. I've played him on many occasions, but I think this was the best I've seen him.
"I'm happy for him. I hope he can go all the way now."
Blake, the world number seven, had won only one set in his previous matches against Federer, but he unnerved the five-time Wimbledon champion with a near faultless service game and an aggressive forehand.

"I always believed in myself," said Blake. "I'd lost to him eight, nine, 10, 50 times, I don't know how many, but I had the feeling it could be my day.
"He didn't play a good first game and that put me up straight away. I played loose and free and I always fancy my chances on the 5-4 game.
"I know I can beat the best in the world on my day and I proved it."
The 28-year-old broke Federer when the Swiss was serving to stay in the first set and then broke again early in the second to take a 3-0 lead.
Federer, who was struggling with his serve and forehand, broke back in the fifth game to take the set to a tie-break only for Blake to win it after racing into a 4-1 lead.
Federer was due to play in the doubles quarter-finals with Stanislas Wawrinka later on Thursday against the Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi but the match was postponed because of rain.
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Old 08-15-2008, 03:51 PM   #6
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Men's Singles finals (gold medal match)
[2] Rafael NADAL (ESP) vs. [12] Fernando GONZALEZ (CHI)

Bronze medal match
[3] Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB) vs. [7] James BLAKE (USA)
http://tennis.com/news/news.aspx?id=141968

Federer is guaranteed an Olympics medal as he and teammate Wawrinka reach the Men's Doubles finals
http://tennis.com/news/news.aspx?id=141970
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Old 08-18-2008, 09:05 PM   #7
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nadal the best
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