| OLYMPICS:
DAY 9
Miraculous Massu doubles for gold
Henin-Hardenne still No. 1 after
amazing gold run
ATP Tour |
Massu pulled off
two straight amazing five-set wins. |
After he had lost the second and
third sets, it seemed a pipe dream for the exhausted Nicolas Massu
that he would be able to come back on virtually no sleep and gaff
Mardy Fish. But the totally inspired Chilean found new life with
his groundies and serve and stunned the American 6-3, 3-6, 2-6,
6-3, 6-4 to win the Olympic gold medal.
"It is a dream, just a dream," Massu said. "I had
only four hours sleep last night, I was so tired but in this final
I had a second life. It is just incredible for Chile. We are a
small country and this is amazing."
Reports had it that Chileans swarmed
the streets of Santiago after Massu’s improbable victory.
Just hours before, he and bronze medallist Fernando Gonzalez had
won the Olympic gold in doubles over Germany’s Rainer Schuettler/Nicolas
Kiefer 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7) 6-4 in a contest that ended at 2:40
am on Sunday.
Amazingly, that victory came just after Gonzalez had to go three
hours and 25 minutes to win the singles bronze over Taylor Dent
6-2, 4-6, 16-14. Who said that Chileans don’t lay it on
the line? "All my life I looked up to the Olympics. These
have been the best two days of my life," Massu said.
While it was tough loss for Fish – who had gone further
at Athens than he ever has at a major event before – it
was emotionally uplifting win for Chile, which has never won gold
before in any sport. The victory was so important to the South
American nation that President Ricardo Lagos issued a statement.
"Today, all of Chile is celebrating this triumph but we're
also celebrating the drive, the power, the heart, that fighting
spirit which in a way represents all of us ... when we want something,
we're capable of getting it."
While that may be the prevailing wisdom in Santiago this week,
the fact is that despite the obvious talent of Chile players over
the years (Fillol, Rios and now Gonzalez and Massu), Chile has
frequently come up short at the big events. But even though he
appeared to be in pain, Massu hung in there and was the far more
effective player in the last two sets. Fish has an impressive
all-court game when he’s on, but was too indecisive in the
later stages of the match and frequently doubted himself. "He
just kept getting better and better," Fish said. "And
more untired."
 |
| Triumphant Justine. |
Fred Mullane/
Camerawork USA |
| Aimless Amelie. |
Henin-Hardenne still No. 1 after amazing gold
run
Not since Monica Seles came back
from two-and-a-half years off the tour due to a stabbing in 1995
has a women’s player been so impressive in coming back to
competition. In a completely amazing run to then gold medal, Justine
Henin-Hardenne wasted Amelie Mauresmo 6-3, 6-3 in the final to give
her nation its first Olympic gold at the '04 Games.
Henin-Hardenne showed all the weapons that brought her to the
top: quickness, her authoritative ground game, her thumping serve,
a bully’s return and oversized heart. She came back to competition
after battling a viral infection the past four months and made
a huge statement about how aggressively she will defend her No.
1 ranking that was seriously at risk in Athens.
"It's a very moving moment for me,
coming back to the sport after months of being in pain,"
Henin-Hardenne said. "It's difficult for you to imagine the
states of depression I went through. I realize now how fortunate
I am to be able to be on the court. I'm really glad to have had
the chance to be able to give 100 percent out there."
For the first time since she won Indian Wells by crushing Anastasia
Myskina in the final, Justine was able to show off the in-tune,
ripped physique that helped carry her brain to three Slam titles.
Mauresmo came into the final with a 3-2 record against her, but
was simply hit off the court. She couldn’t keep her heavy
topspin strokes kicking over the Belgium’s head and did
little at the net. As fans have seen her do so many times over
the past year-and-a-half, it was the leaping Henin-Hardenne who
was doing much of the dictating. She was a far better player than
the one who came back prematurely at Roland Garros. "I think
you can see that she's really taken her time to prepare herself
properly to be certain to come back right away at a very high
level," Mauresmo said. "She came back too early once."
Justine has always been a bit of a loner. She has few friends
outside her camp – husband Pierre-Yves, coach Carlos Rodriguez
and trainer Pat Etcheberry. But for a week in Athens, there was
no "I" in Justine. "I was always dreaming about
Grand Slams," Henin-Hardenne said. "But now maybe I
change my mind, because it's different. You feel like you're playing
for the whole country, for the colors of your country. That's
something really different. When you're in a Grand Slam, you're
alone."
Australia's Alicia Molik won the bronze medal,
upsetting an exhausted Anastasia Myskina, 6-3 6-4.
Not only did little Belgium and smallish Chile win medals but
gargantuan China and its tiny tennis reputation also did, when
Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun defeated No. 2 Conchita
Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-3, 6-3, to win
gold in women's doubles. Li and Sun had an incredible run in Athens,
taking out Venus Williams/Chanda Rubin, Francesca Schiavone/Silvia
Farina, Molik/Rennae Stubbs and Paola Suarez/Patricia Tarabini
before taking the Spaniards. "It is unbelievable that we
have this gold medal," Sun said. "It is a great honor
for us, thank you." No, thank you.
Davenport,
Hewitt Take Titles
Lindsay Davenport won her fourth consecutive
title but burying Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the
Cincinnati. It was Davenport's sixth title of the year and 18th
straight victory. She hasn’t lost since falling semis at
Wimbledon to eventual champ Maria Sharapova. Davenport will play
New Haven this upcoming week. Davenport and Mauresmo remain tied
atop the women’s US Open Series standings. They are guaranteed
to finish in the top two positions in US Open Series Bonus Challenge.
Lleyton Hewitt toppled Luxembourg's Gilles Muller
6-3, 6-4 in Washington. The unseeded Muller had stunned Andre
Agassi in the semis.
"It was a hard match. I really
hadn't seen him play much before," Hewitt said. "I felt
like I knew he was going to be a big lefty with a big serve. Hewitt
overtook Roger Federer for third place in the men’s US Open
Series standings, trailing Andy Roddick and Agassi, respectively.
Roddick, Agassi and Hewitt are guaranteed to finish in the top
three in the final standings. |
