TENNIS

TENNIS
American Mardy Fishloses in men's final
XATHENS, Greece -- Yep, just as everyone predicted, Andy Roddick was at center court for the Olympic gold medal match.
One thing, though: He was in the stands, rooting for teammate Mardy Fish.
The rest of the U.S. tennis squad was nowhere to be found, long gone from Greece without so much as a medal. The same can be said for several of the sport's best and brightest from other countries, too.
Venus Williams? A first-round loser in doubles, third-round loser in singles.
Martina Navratilova, an Olympic rookie at 47? Out in the quarterfinals.
Roger Federer? Knocked off by a player who's won two Grand Slam matches. Not tournaments -- matches.
Fish lost to Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an error-strewn singles final Sunday night that went four hours. Chile had never won a gold medal at any Olympics until Massu and Fernando Gonzalez won the doubles title in a match that lasted more than 31/2 hours and ended in the wee hours Sunday morning.
And Gonzalez, who upset Roddick in the third round, beat Taylor Dent for the single bronze.
None of those four semifinalists ever has been ranked in the top 10. Only Gonzalez has been as far as the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament -- and he's never made it past that stage.
But he fits right in with past Olympic medalists such as Arnaud Di Pasquale and Jordi Arrese.
Perhaps it's because the elite don't take the Olympics as seriously as majors, although Federer, Roddick and Williams all seemed to be genuinely disappointed at their showings in Athens.
Half of the men's top 10, including Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt, didn't enter. Nor did such females as Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport, though No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne did meet -- and defeat -- No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo in a gold medal final worthy of a Slam.
Associated Press