The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Arantxa warms up for record fifth Olympics

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Wednesday, May 05, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

Arantxa warms up for record fifth Olympics

BERLIN, MAY 4. Former World No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario has come out of retirement in a bid to become the first tennis player to take part in five Olympics.

``It's a personal challenge and something I'm really looking forward to,'' the 32-year-old said on Tuesday in Berlin, where she is playing her first tournament since she announced her retirement from competitive tennis in November 2002.

The winner of 29 titles including four Grand Slams in a career spanning over 15 years, Sanchez-Vicario said her only aim was to get ready to play doubles at the Athens Olympics in August.

``I'm not planning a comeback on the tour,'' she said. ``After the Olympics I will probably play a few exhibitions but that will be it.''

Sanchez-Vicario, who was granted a wild card by the organisers of the German Open, is teaming up with Frenchwoman Mary Pierce in the doubles competition.

The pair beat Tathiana Garbin of Italy and Russian Alina Jidkova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in a first-round match.

``It was a great feeling,'' she said. ``I was rather relaxed and I really enjoyed it.''

The combative Spaniard, who played the German Open 12 times and won it in 1995, said she had hardly touched a racket over the past 18 months.

``I played maybe five times but I did keep in shape and now I'm training four hours a day,'' she said.

Sanchez-Vicario, one of the most popular players on the circuit for years because of her fighting spirit and cheerful nature, said: ``The Spanish (tennis) Federation asked me if I would play doubles at the Olympics and I accepted the challenge.

``I have asked (the International Tennis Federation) for an invitation and I'm waiting for a reply.''

A member of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Sanchez-Vicario took part in the Olympics in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000, winning four medals, more than any other Spanish athlete.

She has won silver and bronze in both singles and doubles but never a gold medal.

After the German Open she plans to play in Rome next week and then at the French Open and Wimbledon, providing she gets wild cards.

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