Stars shine at Olympic Tennis Event
Rafael Nadal, Elena Dementieva, Roger Federer and Stanislas
Wawrinka, and Venus and Serena Williams all added gold to
their country’s medal count at last week’s Olympic
Tennis Event at the Beijing Olympic Tennis Centre. For Nadal,
who became the world’s No. 1 player today, and the Swiss
pairing, this was their first ever Olympic medal. Meanwhile
Dementieva and the Williams sisters all returned to the medal
podium after their previous successes at Sydney 2000, where
Dementieva lost to Venus Williams in the gold medal match
and the Williams sisters took gold in the women’s doubles.
ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “Tennis has
been showcased before the world as one of the most exciting
sports in the Olympic Games. The support of our players has
been outstanding and it has been great to see so many of the
top stars fulfil their dreams of winning a medal at the Olympic
Games. We have seen a great evolution over the 20 years in
Olympic tennis with a medal becoming one of the most coveted
prizes for our athletes. Tennis is proud to be part of the
Olympics and we look forward to London 2012 when one of the
temples of tennis, Wimbledon, will host the next Olympic Tennis
Event.”
Nadal was one of those players to embrace the Olympic experience
enjoying every minute of his stay in the athletes’ village.
“Every day was different. So every day was a special
moments. I enjoy a lot more than a normal tournament. Is totally
different experience. I love that,” said Nadal. The
Spaniard continued his imperious form with a straight sets
victory over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 63 76(2) 63. “I
know how difficult is win these things, and especially here,
because you only have one chance every four years. And win
here for me is, well, unbelievable.”
Gonzalez failed to capitalise on his chances in the second
set when he had two set points on Nadal’s serve at 5-6.
However his second place at least ensures he has a full set
of medals following his doubles gold and singles bronze in
Athens. This medal is Chile’s first of the Games.
“I came here with a dream, with a goal to get one medal
for my country and for me. When I get to the final, of course
I want the best one, you know. But I know for me it’s
a great feeling. I mean, it’s a great goal. I did it
in Athens and now I did it here. The Olympics means really
much for me.”
Despite ending Roger Federer’s Olympic singles dream,
James Blake (USA) was unable to go home with a medal, losing
his bronze medal play-off match to Novak Djokovic (SRB). The
Serb asserted his authority from the start, defeating the
American 63 76(3).
The women’s singles event emphasised the current strength
of Russian women’s tennis, with the podium dominated
by Russian players. Dementieva always rises to the Olympic
occasion and Beijing was no different. The Russian came to
the Olympics off the back of previous good form at Roland
Garros and Wimbledon and fought back from a set down against
Dinara Safina to take victory 36 75 63.
“I cannot even compare Grand Slam and Olympic Games
because it’s just so much bigger. This is a dream for
every athlete, you know, just to be here. But to be an Olympic
champion, this is the top of the career,” said Dementieva.
“I couldn’t think about anything else except Olympic
Games. So I did all the preparation. I didn’t play any
tournaments in the States that I like to play because I was
working hard in Florida just to get used to the humidity and
just to be able to play in this extremely hot condition. All
the hard work just pays off today and I’m just feel
happy.”
For large stretches of the match Safina looked the more likely
winner. She won the first set and then recovered from 1-4
down in the second. At 5-5 she had the chance to break, and
should at least have taken the match into a tiebreak. But
a double-fault at 40-15 in the 12th game proved very costly,
as Dementieva came back to break and take the set. Safina
blamed her recent heavy schedule for the defeat. “I’m
disappointed that I lost. But from the other hand, if I see
things around, what I’ve done, still coming from States,
winning two tournaments in a row, coming here, I didn’t
have even just one normal day off.” Vera Zvonareva completed
the Russian domination defeating China’s Li Na in straight
sets, 60 75.
There are few milestones left for Roger Federer to achieve,
but he achieved one of his lifetime’s dreams on the
secondlast day of the Olympic tennis event , winning an Olympic
medal at the third attempt. He partnered Stanislas Wawrinka
to victory over Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson of Sweden
63 64 67(4) 63 in the men’s doubles. “Right now
this is quite a surreal moment,” said Federer. “The
joy of sharing this victory with somebody else who I like
very much, who we had a great two weeks with, it’s quite
different to anything I’ve ever gone through. I could
only maybe compare it a little bit to some incredible Davis
Cup victories I’ve ever had.”
The women’s doubles gold went to Serena and Venus Williams,
who maintained their unbeaten Olympic record with a crushing
62 60 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano
Pascual (ESP). It’s the USA’s first tennis gold
since the sisters won in Sydney and as Serena missed Athens
through injury, they have yet to lose a doubles match together
in Olympic competition.
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