The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Massu meets Fish

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Saturday, Aug 21, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

Massu meets Fish

ATHENS, AUG. 20. Nicolas Massu beat Taylor Dent of the United States 7-6(5), 6-1 in the men's semifinals to move within one victory of giving Chile its first Olympic gold medal in any sport.

In the other semifinal, unseeded American Mardy Fish ended the hopes of another Chilean, No. 16 Fernando Gonzalez, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fish and Massu will clash on Sunday in the gold medal match.

This is the best showing by Fish or Massu at any big tournament as neither has ever been past the third round of a Grand Slam.

Massu's four career titles have all come on clay, while Fish's lone triumph came at Stockholm last year.

That makes for a fitting finish to an Olympic tournament in which No. 1 Roger Federer, No. 2 Roddick, and No. 4 Tim Henman were all eliminated by the third round.

Chile's total tennis medal count before the Athens Games was zero.

The nation is assured of at least two now, as Massu and Gonzalez reached the doubles final against Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler of Germany.

Fish looked lost midway through the first set, dropping four straight games and showing his frustration by smashing his racket to the court or using it to hit himself on the head or knee.

But on the first point at 2-2 in the second set, Gonzalez twisted his right ankle while chasing a ball.

He needed a medical timeout while a trainer wrapped the injury.

Fish finally gained control in the ninth game, breaking Gonzalez for a 5-4 lead. The American, ranked 22, then served out the set.

After the last point, he sank to his knees and bowed on court, then rose and flashed a thumbs up sign in Roddick's direction.

``I've been waiting for this sort of performance from him at a huge event,'' U.S. coach Patrick McEnroe said.

``I've been waiting for him to do this at a Slam, and it's just as big here.''

There were no breaks of serve in the first set, and Massu took the tie-breaker by finally getting the measure on his passing shots.

The Chilean converted his second set point with a fantastic return at Dent's feet, drawing an awkward volley that sailed long. Massu then rolled through the second set, opening up a 5-0 lead.

In the women's semifinal, Justine Henin-Hardenne overcame a spirited challenge from Anastasia Myskina to win 7-5, 5-7, 8-6.

In the doubles semifinals, No. 8 Li Ting and Sun Tian Tian of China beat No. 7 Paola Suarez and Patricia Tarabini of Argentina 6-2, 2-6, 9-7.

This win has guaranteed China its first tennis medal at the Olympics.

Martina dreams on

Meanwhile, Martina Navratilova has no plans for next year after her long and illustrious tennis career finished without an Olympic medal.

The Czech-born American, making her Olympic debut at 47, had teamed up with Lisa Raymond for the women's doubles but they were beaten 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 by Japan's Shinobu Asagoe and Ai Sugiyama in the quarterfinals.

She said defeat did not signal the end of a dream. "This was never a dream of mine when I was growing up. It was a bonus I was able to be here," Navratilova said.

"It's disappointing, of course. We were hoping to get a medal. But the end of a dream? No. I am living my dream."

And is this the end? "Next year, I have no plan. I just want to finish out the year and see what happens," Navratilova said.

She said she had wanted to take part in the Olympics since watching the 1960 Rome Olympics on television.

"I've never played an Olympics and that's a big carrot," Navratilova said about continuing to play regularly on the 2004 tour. — Agencies

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