U.S. tennis struggles with round of upsets

Andy Roddick, Venus Williams and Chanda Rubin all lost matches.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- It all began ominously enough, with Venus Williams getting called for a foot fault, then double-faulting to lose her first service game.
Not much later, the 2000 gold medalist was out of the Olympics.
As was Andy Roddick. And the top-seeded doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan. Chanda Rubin and Lisa Raymond, too.
"Just a pretty rough day for Americans," U.S. coach Zina Garrison said.
Merely 11/2 weeks ago, the U.S. tennis squad appeared loaded, with four past No. 1s and major champions slated to play: Roddick, the Williams sisters, and Jennifer Capriati. After two injury withdrawals, and Wednesday's one-defeat-after-another disaster, the medal hopes are rather limited.
A day after top-ranked Roger Federer lost, apparently easing Roddick's path to a medal, the U.S. Open champion was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by No. 16 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the third round. Williams lost to Mary Pierce of France by the same score.
"I would have liked to have done better and even win the event," said Williams, who made 51 unforced errors and was broken to end each set. "Now, I just have to learn from my mistakes."
For the first time since tennis returned to the Olympics as a medal sport in 1988, no U.S. woman will win a singles medal. Rubin lost to No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-3, 6-1, and Raymond was eliminated by Alicia Molik of Australia 6-4, 6-4.
On a roll
At night, Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu paired up to upset the Bryan twins 7-5, 6-4.
Gonzalez, never past the quarterfinals at a major, has a shot at two medals. He was superb against Roddick, compiling a 23-6 edge in winners.
"Without a doubt, it was one of the best matches of my life," Gonzalez said.
Roddick spoke all week about being excited to be part of a team for a change, and the chance to play for the United States.
He even wore shoes designed for the occasion, decorated with stripes and stars.
"With each player, it's personal, how big it is. Some guys really don't care that much. I cared a lot," Roddick said. "It's not the biggest thing in our sport, but it's the biggest thing in sports."
Other matches
Mardy Fish got past Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, and Taylor Dent beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4 to reach the singles quarterfinals. And Martina Navratilova and Raymond advanced in doubles when their opponents, Mauresmo and Pierce, pulled out.
Today, Navratilova and Raymond were scheduled to play Ai Sugiyama and Shinobu Asagoe of Japan. The singles quarterfinals were No. 8 Sugiyama vs. Molik, Pierce vs. No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, Mauresmo vs. No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, and No. 11 Francesca Schiavone of Italy vs. No. 3 Anastasia Myskina of Russia.
The men's final eight: Gonzalez vs. No. 8 Sebastien Grosjean of France, No. 10 Massu vs. No. 3 Carlos Moya of Spain, Dent vs. Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, and Fish vs. Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.