Tennis at the 2008 Beijing Olympics will start on August 10 and ends with the final-round play on August 16-17. The competition will be held at the newly built Olympic Green Tennis Center. The court surface is Deco Turf II which is also the same one as in the US Open. More details:
In the women’s singles, the past five gold medalists have been multiply grand slam winners: Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriatti, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Justine Henin. This year, the women’s draw is perhaps the most open in years. Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia are the top two in the WTA rankings. Their results in recent tournaments however, have been less than impressive. Former world no. 1 Maria Sharapova of Russia withdrew from the Olympics due to a shoulder injury. The in-form Dinara Safina, world no. 7, is a favorite following her back-to-back wins in Los Angeles and Montreal. She already has 3 titles this year alone and has reached the finals in 5 of her last 6 tournaments. And of course, the Williams sisters should never be discounted. Venus Williams is looking to follow her fifth Wimbledon title with another gold medal while younger sister Serena wants her first Olympic medal to accompany her eight grand slam titles.
Notes:
All matches will be best-of-three sets except that the final rounds in men's singles and doubles will be best-of-five. Tiebreakers will not be used in fifth sets of the men's finals nor in third sets of all other matches. Gold, silver, and bronze medals will be awarded to the top three in all events.Current world no. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland will be looking to win his first Olympic medal to salvage his disappointing season. He has only won 2 titles and has been slam-less for the first time since 2002. This is his third time participating in the Olympics and he hopes that it will be better this time. In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Federer lost the bronze-medal match to Arnaud di Pasquale of France. As world no. 1 and the top seed, he was upset by Tomas Berdych in the second round in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Meanwhile, it will be the first Olympic games for world no. 1 in waiting Rafael Nadal of Spain and world no. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Both are looking to add an Olympic medal to their already impressive achievements for the year. The in-form Andy Murray of Great Britain is also hoping to continue his great form following his first Masters Series title from Cincinnati last week. But as in the past, the gold medalist in the men’s singles is never quite predictable. Three winners have never won a grand slam: Miloslav Mecir in Seoul 1988, Marc Rosset in Barcelon 1992 and Nicolas Massu in Athens 2004.
In the women’s singles, the past five gold medalists have been multiply grand slam winners: Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriatti, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Justine Henin. This year, the women’s draw is perhaps the most open in years. Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia are the top two in the WTA rankings. Their results in recent tournaments however, have been less than impressive. Former world no. 1 Maria Sharapova of Russia withdrew from the Olympics due to a shoulder injury. The in-form Dinara Safina, world no. 7, is a favorite following her back-to-back wins in Los Angeles and Montreal. She already has 3 titles this year alone and has reached the finals in 5 of her last 6 tournaments. And of course, the Williams sisters should never be discounted. Venus Williams is looking to follow her fifth Wimbledon title with another gold medal while younger sister Serena wants her first Olympic medal to accompany her eight grand slam titles.
Notes:
- Federer will face either Ivo Karlovic or Tomas Berdych in the third round
- Nadal could face Murray in quarterfinals and Djokovic in the semifinals
- Jankovic and Safina are in the same quarter
- Ivanovic could face S. Williams in the semifinals
- An all-Williams final is possible
http://www.itftennis.com/olympics/drawsheets/index.asp
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