OLYMPICS!!!!

[sirius]

43 days to go to the olympics! here's the acceptance list for all 4 draws!

ITF announces Olympic Acceptance List
The ITF is proud to announce the list of outstanding athletes who will participate in the Tennis Event at the Olympic Games.

Direct acceptance for the event was based on the men’s and women’s rankings of 14 June 2004 with the first 56 places in the men’s and women’s singles draw based solely on ranking, with a limit of four players per country. Two places in each singles draw were selected by a Tripartite Commission comprising the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees and the ITF, while six places were selected by the ITF Olympic Committee based on a combination of ranking and geographic diversity.

Fifty-three countries will be represented at the Tennis Event at Athens, one more than competed in Sydney: 33 in Men’s Singles, 25 in Men’s Doubles, 32 in Women’s Singles and 22 in Women’s Doubles. The host nation, Greece, will be represented in all four draws. Their top player, Eleni Daniilodou, ranked 32 on 14 June 2004, will compete in both women’s singles and, with Christina Zachariadou, in doubles. Greece’s top male player, Konstantinos Economidis, ranked No. 252 on 14 June, will compete in men’s singles and, with Vasilis Mazarakis, in doubles.

Twenty-seven of the top 30 men from the ranking of 14 June 2004 will compete in the men’s singles competition, and 23 of the top 30 women will take part in the women’s singles event. The four-player limit for any country eliminated three Russian players and one American player in the top 30 from the women’s draw.

The field for the men’s and women’s doubles is as outstanding as the singles, with the top teams represented in both draws. Many of the top singles players will also compete in doubles.

“This is the best field we have had for tennis in the Olympic Games,” said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. “Athens will be only the fifth Olympics since tennis returned as a full medal sport in 1988. It took a few years for the players and the fans to understand what an honour and a privilege it is to compete for your country in the Olympic Games but the response that we have received shows that the Olympics is now one of the most important events in tennis. At the same time, tennis has become one of the most important events in the Olympic Games.”<br>
The full list of players competing in Athens is as follows.

MEN'S SINGLES EVENT

ARGENTINA - Juan Ignacio Chela, Guillermo Coria, Gaston Gaudio, David Nalbandian
ARMENIA - Sargis Sargsian
AUSTRALIA - Mark Philippoussis
AUSTRIA - Jurgen Melzer
BELARUS - Max Mirnyi
BELGIUM - Xavier Malisse, Olivier Rochus
BENIN - Arnaud Segodo
BRAZIL - Gustavo Kuerten, Flavio Saretta
CHILE - Fernando Gonzalez, Nicolas Massu
CHINESE TAIPEI - Yen-Hsun Lu
CROATIA - Mario Ancic, Ivo Karlovic, Ivan Ljubicic
CYPRUS - Marcos Baghdatis
CZECH REPUBLIC - Tomas Berdych, Jiri Novak
ECUADOR - Nicolas Lapentti
FINLAND - Jarkko Nieminen
FRANCE - Gregory Carraz, Arnaud Clement, Sebastien Grosjean, Fabrice Santoro
GEORGIA - Irakli Labadze
GERMANY - Tommy Haas, Nicolas Kiefer, Florian Mayer, Rainer Schuettler
GREAT BRITAIN - Tim Henman
GREECE - Konstantinos Economidis
ITALY - Filippo Volandri
KOREA - Hyung-Taik Lee
MOROCCO - Hicham Arazi, Younes El Aynaoui
NETHELANDS - Raemon Sluiter, Martin Verkerk
PERU - Luis Horna
ROMANIA - Andrei Pavel
[glow=red,2,300]RUSSIA - Igor Andreev, Nikolay Davydenko, Marat Safin, Mikhail Youzhny [/glow]
SLOVAK REPUBLIC - Karol Beck, Dominik Hrbaty, Karol Kucera
SPAIN - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Feliciano Lopez, Carlos Moya, Tommy Robredo
SWEDEN - Jonas Bjorkman, Thomas Enqvist, Joachim Johansson, Robin Soderling
SWITZERLAND - Roger Federer
THAILAND - Paradorn Srichaphan
USA - Taylor Dent, Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, Vincent Spadea

WOMEN'S SINGLES EVENT

ARGENTINA - Gisela Dulko, Paola Suarez
AUSTRALIA - Alicia Molik, Nicole Pratt
BELGIUM - Justine Henin-Hardenne
BULGARIA - Magdalena Maleeva
CHINA - Jie Zheng
COLOMBIA - Fabiola Zuluaga
CROATIA - Jelena Kostanic, Karolina Sprem
CZECH REPUBLIC - Iveta Benesova, Denisa Chladkova, Klara Koukalova, Barbora Strycova
ESTONIA - Kaia Kanepi
FRANCE - Nathalie Dechy, Amelie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce, Sandrine Testud
GERMANY - Anca Barna, Marlene Weingartner
GREECE - Eleni Daniilidou
HUNGARY - Aniko Kapros, Petra Mandula
INDONESIA - Angelique Widjaja
ISRAEL - Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi
ITALY - Maria Elena Camerin, Silvia Farina Elia, Tathiana Garbin, Francesca Schiavone
JAPAN - Shinobu Asagoe, Akiko Morigami, Saori Obata, Ai Sugiyama
KOREA - Yoon Jeong Cho
LUXEMBOURG - Anne Kremer, Claudine Schaul
MADAGASCAR - Dally Randriantefi
PUERTO RICO - Kristina Brandi
[glow=red,2,300]RUSSIA - Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Myskina, Nadia Petrova [/glow]
SERBIA & MONTENEGRO - Jelena Jankovic
SLOVAK REPUBLIC - Daniela Hantuchova, Lubomira Kurhajcova, Martina Sucha
SLOVENIA - Maja Matevzic, Tina Pisnik, Katarina Srebotnik
SPAIN - Conchita Martinez, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo, Magui Serna
SWITZERLAND - Myriam Casanova, Patty Schnyder
THAILAND - Tamarine Tanasugarn
UKRAINE - Tetyana Perebiynis
USA - Jennifer Capriati, Chanda Rubin, Serena Williams, Venus Williams
VENEZUELA - Maria Vento-Kabchi
ZIMBABWE - Cara Black

MEN'S DOUBLES EVENT

ARGENTINA - Guillermo Coria/David Nalbandian and Gaston Etlis/Martin Rodriguez
AUSTRALIA - Wayne Arthurs/Todd Woodbridge
BAHAMAS - Mark Merklein/Mark Knowles
BELARUS - Max Mirnyi/Vladimir Voltchkov
BELGIUM- Xavier Malisse/Olivier Rochus
CANADA - Daniel Nestor/Fred Niemeyer
CHILE - Fernando Gonzalez/Nicolas Massu
CROATIA - Mario Ancic/Ivan Ljubicic
CZECH REPUBLIC - Tomas Berdych/Jiri Novak and Martin Damm/Cyril Suk
FRANCE - Arnaud Clement/Sebastien Grosjean and Michael Llodra/Fabrice Santoro
GERMANY - Nicolas Kiefer/Rainer Schuettler
GREECE - Konstantinos Economidis/Vasilis Mazarakis
INDIA - Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes
ISRAEL - Jonathan Erlich/Andi Ram
MOROCCO - Hicham Arazi/Younes El Aynaoui
NETHERLANDS - Raemon Sluiter/Martin Verkerk
POLAND - Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski
ROMANIA - Victor Hanescu/Andrei Pavel
[glow=red,2,300]RUSSIA - Igor Andreev/Nikolay Davydenko and Marat Safin/Mikhail Youzhny[/glow]
SLOVAK REPUBLIC - Karol Beck/Dominik Hrbaty
SPAIN - Feliciano Lopez/Tommy Robredo and Carlos Moya/Rafael Nadal
SWEDEN - Jonas Bjorkman/Joachim Johansson and Thomas Enqvist/Robin Soderling
SWITZERLAND - Yves Allegro/Roger Federer
USA - Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish/Andy Roddick
ZIMBABWE - Wayne Black/Kevin Ullyett

WOMEN'S DOUBLES EVENT

ARGENTINA - Paola Suarez/Patricia Tarabini
AUSTRALIA - Alicia Molik/Rennae Stubbs and Nicole Pratt/Samantha Stosur
CHINA - Ting Li/Tian Tian Sun and Zi Yan/Jie Zheng
COLOMBIA - Catalina Castano/Fabiola Zuluaga
CROATIA - Jelena Kostanic/Karolina Sprem
CZECH REPUBLIC - Libuse Prusova/Barbora Strycova
ESTONIA - Maret Ani/Kaia Kanepi
FRANCE - Nathalie Dechy/Sandrine Testud and Amelie Mauresmo/Mary Pierce
GREECE - Eleni Daniilidou/Christina Zachariadou
HUNGARY - Petra Mandula/Kyra Nagy
INDONESIA - Wynne Prakusya/Angelique Widjaja
ITALY - Silvia Farina Elia/Francesca Schiavone and Tathiana Garbin/Roberta Vinci
JAPAN - Shinobu Asagoe/Ai Sugiyama and Akiko Morigami/Saori Obata
LUXEMBOURG - Anne Kremer/Claudine Schaul
[glow=red,2,300]RUSSIA - Elena Dementieva/Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova/Elena Likhovtseva[/glow]
SLOVAK REPUBLIC - Daniela Hantuchova/Janette Husarova and Lubomira Kurhajcova/Martina Sucha
SLOVENIA - Tina Krizan/Katarina Srebotnik and Maja Matevzic/Tina Pisnik
SPAIN - Conchita Martinez/Virginia Ruano Pascual and Anabel Medina Garrigues/Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
SWITZERLAND - Myriam Casanova/Patty Schnyder
UKRAINE - Yuliya Beygelzimer/Tetyana Perebiynis
USA - Martina Navratilova/Lisa Raymond and Serena Williams/Venus Williams
VENEZUELA Milagros Sequera/Maria Vento-Kabchi

[Teresa]

Thanks for the info

BTW I noticed that Hewitt is not going to the Olympics
which I find surprising, but maybe its not, only Mark from Australia. Mark can only play singles as he does not have a doubles partner, Also Kim, does anyone know if this is because of her current injury, or did she not intend to go, only Justine is down from Belgium.

I am so please Marat is playing doubles as well, and with Misha.

[me]

sirius21 said:

43 days to go to the olympics! here's the acceptance list for all 4 draws!

OMG! just 43days I thought the olympics were still quite far from now, but okay, not too long before they start, Jeej ;D

[Damita]

Teresa said:

Thanks for the info

BTW I noticed that Hewitt is not going to the Olympics
which I find surprising,

Not really surprising actually. He said that the Olympics weren't very important to him and he prefers to focus on the US Open

Also Kim, does anyone know if this is because of her current injury, or did she not intend to go

Teresa, do you live in a cave? ;D The journalists have been talking about that for months. Kim won't go to the Olympics because of a problem about sponsoring. The trademark that is sponsoring the sportsmen from Belgium is not the same as her. And she wants to remain faithful to the one that has been sponsoring her from the beginning of her career.... and okay now she also says it's because of the injury but that's an additional reason, not the original one.

[Teresa]

Damita said:

Not really surprising actually. He said that the Olympics weren't very important to him and he prefers to focus on the US Open

Thanks Damita for that bit of info

Teresa, do you live in a cave? ;D The journalists have been talking about that for months. Kim won't go to the Olympics because of a problem about sponsoring. The trademark that is sponsoring the sportsmen from Belgium is not the same as her. And she wants to remain faithful to the one that has been sponsoring her from the beginning of her career.... and okay now she also says it's because of the injury but that's an additional reason, not the original one.

LMAO.....Damita, yep! when it comes to women's tennis I might as well be living in a cave ;D sorry I don't follow unless Dinara is playing, and then I only really follow her news, or there is absolutely nothing else to do! Or like to day when Maria was playing and wopping Serena's a**se!!

But all the same thanks very much for updating and keeping me informed, I now head back to my cave ;D

[Damita]

Teresa said:

I don't follow unless Dinara is playing, and then I only really follow her news, or there is absolutely nothing else to do! Or like to day when Maria was playing and wopping Serena's a**se!!

I wish i could have seen this match !!!

But all the same thanks very much for updating and keeping me informed,

You're welcome

I now head back to my cave ;D

ROTRL ;D

[Damita]

New article from ES.com


Russia to fork out bonuses

Russia's gold medal winners in Athens could receive the biggest bonuses the country has paid to their Olympic champions. "We haven't come up with the exact sum yet but it should be at least $60,000 and could go as high as $100,000 in addition to what the government had already promised our gold medallists," Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) president Leonid Tyagachyov told Reuters.


The government said they would pay $50,000, $20,000 and $10,000 to gold, silver and bronze medal winners respectively.

"That would make our Olympic champions at least $110,000 richer," Tyagachyov said.

Russia paid a $100,000 bonus to their Olympic champions at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, though winners at Sydney in 2000 and the 2002 Salt Lake City Games received only $50,000.

Tyagachyov said his money would come from private sponsors.

"We have several big companies which already expressed interest in supporting our athletes," he said.

A source close to the ROC said the original idea was to give Olympic champions a $200,000 bonus.

"Our sponsors would have had to spend some $6 million, but it's peanuts to most of our oligarchs," the source told Reuters, referring to Russia's wealthy business elite.

"If they could spend over $10 million for an average soccer player from abroad to play in the premier league, they could easily find $6 million for our best athletes."

Russia estimate they could win at least 30 gold medals in Athens.

Last week Tyagachyov complained that lack of money could have a negative effect on the country's performance in Athens as Russia had only little over $100 million available for the four-year period, far less than their American or Chinese competitors.



Reuters - 3/8/2004

[Elisabeth]

Thank you Damita!
It's cool that Marat plays Athenes!I
But he has right : U.S Open it's more important...but it's still nice if Marat can have a medail!LOL

[Tatiana]

Thanx for all the info guys
I'm sure gonna miss Yevgeny Kafelnikov not being there at the Olypmics! Oh well, at least Maratiks there

[Damita]

new article from sportinglife.com


Safin - outspoken Russian will be in Athens

OLYMPIC BURDEN FOR TENNIS STARS
Olympic glory is the ultimate goal of millions - but for many of the world's top tennis stars it is just an extra stop on an already crowded tour.

The tennis establishment has always sat awkwardly alongside the Olympic movement since the sport was reintroduced to the Games in 1988.

Even then the top male players generally stayed away until the ATP sweetened them with the offer of ranking points for the first time four years ago in Sydney.

Whether it is security, shirt brands or qualification regulations - disputes have never been far away.

In fact they were central to tennis' exclusion from the Games way back in 1924, when a disagreement over players' amateur status prompted a 64-year exclusion from the event.

Problems resurfaced again this week when the WTA Tour narrowly averted a player boycott over Germany's refusal to select two players - Anca Barna and Marlene Weingartner - who meet the Games' qualification standards.

Tour chiefs vowed to push for the International Tennis Federation's Olympic agreement with the International Olympic Committee not be renewed unless they were guaranteed that all future eligible players could compete.

It was the latest issue in a long-running saga in which the attitudes of multi-millionaire players have looked increasingly out of place amongst the Games' amateur Olympic ideal.

Many players have cited security concerns as their major reason for refusing to travel to Athens but others have been a little more blatant in their admissions.

Former world number one Kim Clijsters admitted she was angry over rules which would make her wear a standard national team shirt, made by a rival company to those with which she holds an ongoing lucrative sponsorship deal.

Others, such as her fiancé Lleyton Hewitt, insist the Games come too soon before the US Open and that there can only be space for tennis at the Games if the competition follows the four majors.

Russian Marat Safin is predictably even more outspoken, insisting simply the Olympics have nothing to do with tennis and that the sport should not be a part of the Games.

Moody Marat said: "We already have a tough schedule and the Olympics is more for amateur sports. It is great for the swimmers and runners but we are professional.

"The Olympics is not for tennis and tennis does not need the Olympics. It is not my goal in life to win a gold medal."

Having said that, Safin will still be in Athens in a week's time because he feels a duty to represent his country at the Games.

The Russia team have high hopes of gold success to follow the victory of Safin's compatriot Yevgeny Kafelnikov four years ago in Sydney.

[MariaV]

Damita said:

The Russia team have high hopes of gold success to follow the victory of Safin's compatriot Yevgeny Kafelnikov four years ago in Sydney.

Yeah, I hope I won't have to hear about Marat's "betrayal" from my Russian commentators like forever after these Olympics if he won't win at least a medal! It's SOOOOOO important for them! And not for Marat!!! Good that he himself doesn't have to listen to this!

[MariaV]

Well, I can share one more Olympic news with you - from Finnish TV sports news tonight (just happened to swich it on) - they showed Jarkko Nieminen at his first training in Athens today, they said he trained for 2 hrs in the day's gruellling heat with Paradorn, showed them hitting and said Jarkko is in great shape and won the set he played with Paradorn at the end of the training session. The training court they showed was blue BTW.

[sirius]

IGOR AND NIKOLAY WON THEIR FIRST ROUND DOUBLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Teresa]

IGOR AND NIKOLAY WON THEIR FIRST ROUND DOUBLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well done guys

Commentator on BBC said today that at Henman's match there were about 300 spectators whilst at the Iraq football match there about 12,000.....WOW
and that one man said he sold his house in Iraq so he could afford to go to Athens....

[ivy]

He sold his house?

Wow.