 Photographer: Paul Zimmer/Ron Angle
Date: 22 Aug 2004 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer/Ron Angle
Date: 22 Aug 2004 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer/Ron Angle
Date: 21 Aug 2004 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer/Ron Angle
Date: 21 Aug 2004 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer/Ron Angle
Date: 22 Aug 2004 | |
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| 14 Feb 2008 - Olympic Tennis Centre, OAKA, Athens | |
| Event Review: Chilean Takeover at Athens 2004 Olympic Tennis Event |
It was hard to disagree that the Tennis Event at the 2004 Olympic Games belonged to Chile.
The nation came to Athens having never won a gold medal in any Olympic sport, and went away from the Tennis Event with two. Chile also won a bronze medal.
Chile’s three medals were the culmination of wildly unpredictable men’s singles and doubles tournaments. Shock losses in the first few days were followed in the last few days by thrilling marathon matches lasting into the small hours of the morning.
Men’s world No. 1 Roger Federer (SUI) was ousted in the second round by Tomas Berdych (CZE), the same night that 2003 Roland Garros Champions also made an early exit from the men’s singles at the hands of Mardy Fish (USA). A day later in the third round, No. 2 seed Andy Roddick (USA), who had been joint-favourite with Federer to win the gold, fell to Fernando Gonzalez (CHI).
No. 3 seed Carlos Moya (AUS) briefly took over as the leading contender for Olympic gold, but swiftly lost to Nicolas Massu (CHI) in the quarterfinals. Gonzalez took care of No. 8 seed Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) in the same round.
Fish and Taylor Dent (USA) surpassed expectations and the performance of higher-ranked teammate Roddick to reach the last four. Fish and Gonzalez lost their semifinals and it was Gonzalez who claimed the bronze medal in their play-off, winning 16-14 in the third set. Chile defeated USA again in the gold medal match, with Massu triumphing over Fish in a roller-coaster five-setter.
By the time he won singles gold, Massu had already been crowned Olympic champion in doubles, teaming with Gonzalez to claim a historic first gold medal for Chile in any sport.
The unseeded Chilean duo had battled their way through the doubles draw with wins over No. 6 seeds Gaston Etlis/Martin Rodriguez (ARG) and top-ranked pair Bob and Mike Bryan (USA). They saved four match points in a dramatic five-set men’s doubles final against Nicolas Kiefer/Rainer Schuettler (GER).
Kiefer/Schuettler had upset two seasoned doubles teams en route to their silver medal, accounting for two-time Olympic medallist Todd Woodbridge (AUS) and partner Wayne Arthurs (AUS) in the second round and Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes (IND) in the semifinals.
The men’s doubles bronze medal went to wild cards Mario Ancic/Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) who, in the longest match of the Olympic Tennis Event, took four hours to overcome Bhupathi/Paes in the bronze medal play-off. They won the third set 16-14.
By comparison the women’s events ran truer to form, but they were still compelling and contained plenty of surprises.
World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) enjoyed a spectacular return after two and a half months out of tennis due to a blood virus. She won Belgium’s first gold medal of the 2004 Games by defeating world No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) 63 63 in the final.
Anastasia Myskina (RUS), ranked No. 3 in the world, narrowly missed out on a place in the final when she lost a 1-5 lead in the final set of her thrilling semifinal encounter with Henin-Hardenne. She missed out again when she lost the bronze medal play-off to unseeded Alicia Molik (AUS).
Sydney gold medallist Venus Williams (USA) lost in the third round to Mary Pierce (USA), while Elena Dementieva (RUS), silver medallist at the 2000 Olympics, fell to Molik in the opening round.
The surprise gold medallists in the women’s doubles were Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun (CHN) who defeated three seeded teams to win the title. It was a first tennis medal for China and bodes well ahead of the 2008 Olympic Tennis Event in Beijing.
Li/Sun defeated the experienced No. 2 seeds Conchita Martinez/Virginia Ruano Pascual in straight sets in the final. The bronze medal was won by Ruano Pascual's regular partner, Paola Suarez (ARG), who teamed with Patricia Tarabini to defeat Shinobu Asagoe/Ai Sugiyama in the play-off.
Top seeds Svetlana Kuznetsova/Elena Likhovtseva (RUS) fell in the first round, while 47-year-old Martina Navratilova's (USA) dreams of a first Olympic medal with Lisa Raymond ended in the quarterfinals.
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