Beijing: 2008 Summer Olympics

[jenhatter06]

ITF announces direct acceptance list
www.itftennis.com/abouttheitf/news/newsarticle.asp?articleid=18892

The ITF announced today the direct acceptance list for the 2008 Olympic Tennis Event in singles and doubles. For both men and women, this is the strongest field ever to enter the Olympic Tennis Event since tennis returned as a full medal sport in Seoul 1988.

Led by the world No. 1s, Roger Federer of Switzerland and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, 17 of the top 20 men and 18 of the top 20 women will compete in Beijing.

Fifty-six players are entered based on their singles ranking of 9 June 2008, following Roland Garros, with a limit of four singles players per gender per country. Players must also be in good standing with their National Association and have met the minimum participation requirements for Davis Cup and Fed Cup.

All five of the top men will compete in Beijing. In the top twenty only Andy Roddick (USA) and Richard Gasquet (FRA) declined to participate and Fernando Verdasco (ESP) is ineligible because he is the fifth qualified player from Spain. Seven of the top ten women will compete in Beijing with only Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) declining to participate and Marion Bartoli (FRA) who is ineligible.

Some men players included in the direct acceptance list have qualified under the ITF’s entry criteria, approved by the International Olympic Committee, but their entry has not yet been confirmed by their respective National Olympic Committees. The ITF continues to object to the exclusion of these players who have worked hard to establish their ranking which is a fair, transparent and equitable means for entry for tennis athletes. The ITF is discussing this situation with the International Olympic Committee, who approved its entry criteria, with the hope that this situation will be resolved in favour of these deserving players.

In addition, included is a list of the first three eligible men and women who will enter the draw if there is a withdrawal by a player whose country does not have a qualified alternate.

The Olympic Tennis Event will be played from Sunday, 10 August, through Sunday, 17 August, 2008 at the new Olympic Tennis Center in Beijing, China. The 2004 Olympic gold medallists were Nicolas Massu (CHI), Justine Henin (BEL), Fernando Gonzalez/Nicolas Massu (CHI) and Ting Li/Tian Tian Sun (CHN). Tennis was a part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The first woman to win an Olympic medal in any sport was tennis player Charlotte Cooper (GBR) at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. After the 1924 Paris Games, tennis withdrew from the Olympics but returned as a demonstration event in 1984 Los Angeles and returned as a full medal sport in 1988 Seoul.

The draw will be made Thursday, August 7, 2008

SINGLES
1 Federer Roger SUI
2 Nadal Rafael ESP
3 Djokovic Novak SRB
4 Davydenko Nikolay RUS
5 Ferrer David ESP
7 Blake James USA
8 Nalbandian David ARG
9 Wawrinka Stanislas SUI
11 Murray Andy GBR
12 Berdych Tomas CZE
13 Almagro Nicolas ESP
14 Tsonga Jo-Wilfried FRA (replaced by Llodra)
15 Gonzalez Fernando CHI
16 Stepanek Radek CZE
17 Mathieu Paul-Henri FRA
18 Youzhny Mikhail RUS
19 Robredo Tommy ESP
21 Monaco Juan ARG
22 Karlovic Ivo CRO
23 Baghdatis Marcos CYP (injury - wrist)
25 Nieminen Jarkko FIN
27 Ljubicic Ivan CRO
28 Simon Gilles FRA
29 Tursunov Dmitry RUS
30 Hewitt Lleyton AUS
31 Seppi Andreas ITA
32 Monfils Gael FRA
34 Andreev Igor RUS
38 Kiefer Nicolas GER
39 Tipsarevic Janko SRB
40 Kohlschreiber Philipp GER
41 Querrey Sam USA
42 Soderling Robin SWE
44 Ancic Mario CRO
45 Chela Juan Ignacio ARG (injury - replaced by Calleri)
47 Bolelli Simone ITA
48 Canas Guillermo ARG
51 Gulbis Ernests LAT
53 Darcis* Steve BEL
55 Lee Hyung-Taik KOR
56 Cilic Marin CRO
58 Starace Potito ITA
59 Ginepri Robby USA
62 Haase* Robin NED (replaced by Melzer)
63 Lapentti Nicolas ECU
65 Sela* Dudi ISR
66 Gremelmayr* Denis GER
67 Rochus* Olivier BEL
68 Bellucci Thomaz BRA
69 Johansson Thomas SWE
PR 70 Hrbaty Dominik SVK
71 Minar Ivo CZE
72 Hanescu Victor ROU
73 Lu Yen-Hsun TPE
74 Koubek Stefan AUT (replaced by Guccione)
75 Daniel Marcos BRA
First alternates:
79 Guccione Chris AUS
81 Melzer Jurgen AUT
82 Vanek Jiri CZE
ITF Place (Wild Card) Anderson Kevin RSA
ITF Place Bjorkman Jonas SWE
ITF Place Nishikori Kei JPN
ITF Place Massu Nicolas CHI
ITF Place Mirnyi Max BLR
ITF Place Sun Peng CHN
Tripartite Loglo Komlavi TOG
Tripartite Arevalo Rafael ESA
* Entry not yet confirmed by National Olympic Committee
PR - Protected/Special Ranking
Rankings as at 9 June 2008

DOUBLES
Argentina - CANAS, Guillermo, NALBANDIAN, David / CALLERI, Agustin, MONACO, Juan
Australia - HANLEY, Paul, KERR, Jordan / GUCCIONE, Chris, HEWITT, Lleyton
Austria - KNOWLE, Julian, MELZER, Jurgen
Bahamas - KNOWLES, Mark, MULLINGS, Devon
Belgium - * DARCIS, Steve, ROCHUS, Olivier
Brazil - MELO, Marcelo, SA, Andre
Canada - NESTOR, Daniel, NIEMEYER, Frederic
Chile - GONZALEZ, Fernando, MASSU, Nicolas
China - YU, Xin-Yuan, ZENG, Shao-Zuan
Croatia - ANCIC, Mario, LJUBICIC, Ivan
Czech Republic - DAMM, Martin, VIZNER, Pavel / BERDYCH, Tomas, STEPANEK, Radek
France - CLEMENT, Arnaud, LLODRA, Michael / MONFILS, Gael, TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried SIMON, Gilles
Germany - KIEFER, Nicholas, KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp
Great Britain - MURRAY, Andy, MURRAY, Jamie
India - BHUPATHI, Mahesh, PAES, Leander
Israel - ERLICH, Jonathan, RAM, Andy
Italy - BOLELLI, Simone, SEPPI, Andreas
Poland - FYRSTENBERG, Mariusz, MATKOWSKI, Marcin
Russia - ANDREEV, Igor, DAVYDENKO, Nikolay
Serbia - DJOKOVIC, Novak, ZIMONJIC, Nenad
South Africa - COETZEE, Jeff, MOODIE, Wesley
Spain - ALMAGRO, Nicolas, FERRER, David / NADAL, Rafael, ROBREDO, Tommy
Sweden - ASPELIN, Simon, JOHANSSON, Thomas / BJORKMAN, Jonas, SODERLING, Robin
Switzerland - FEDERER, Roger, WAWRINKA, Stanislas
USA - BRYAN, Bob, BRYAN, Mike / BLAKE, James, QUERREY, Sam
* Entry not yet confirmed by National Olympic Committee

[jenhatter06]

Basics

Events
Olympic tennis is not like the Davis Cup or Fed Cup, annual competitions pitting nation against nation in a team-style format involving individual matches. The Athens Games will be similar to a Grand Slam event, with fewer players (and no mixed doubles). The four tennis competitions on the Olympic program are:
· Men's singles
· Women's singles
· Men's doubles
· Women's doubles

Tournament draws
In Beijing, the tennis competition involves single-elimination tournaments for each of the four events. The men's and women's singles draws both feature 64 competitors; the men's and women's doubles draws have 32 teams.

Sixteen players are seeded in singles and eight teams are seeded in doubles with the remaining players or teams drawn into brackets. Where practical, no two players from the same country are placed in the same quarter of the draw. Seedings are based on the latest international rankings.

Progression
Adhering to the typical protocol of tennis tournaments, players advance through the draw by winning matches. Losers are eliminated until the field is down to four players/teams. At this stage, the semifinal winners advance to meet in the gold-medal final; the semifinal losers face each other to determine who wins bronze.

Match format
All tennis matches at the 2008 Olympics will be best-of-three sets, except for the men's singles and doubles finals, which will be best-of-five. All men's matches used to be best of five until the format was changed after the Barcelona Games to encourage more participation, with the tournament generally being played on the eve of the U.S. Open.

Tie-breaks
In all matches, tie-breaks are used for any set that reaches 6-all except the last, which will be played until one player (or team) has a two-game advantage. This is the format followed at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon; at the U.S. Open, tie-breaks are used in every set.

Court dimensions
A tennis court measures 78 feet in length and either 27 feet (for singles) or 36 feet (for doubles) in width; each doubles alley, running the length of the court, is 4 feet, 6 inches wide. The court is divided into two equal sides by a net standing three feet high at the center of the court. On each half, a center line extends perpendicular to the net until connecting to the service line, which runs parallel to -- and 21 feet from -- the net.

Number of Courts: Ten match courts; six practice courts - all floodlit
Seating Capacity:
Centre Court - 10000, Show Court 1 - 4000, Show Court 2 - 2000, Remaining Courts - 200 (seven outside courts)

Surface
In Beijing, the court surface is Decoturf II, the same hard-court material used at the U.S. Open.

www.nbcolympics.com/tennis/insidethissport/index.html

[jenhatter06]

aha - this explains Team Russia as an Ice Hockey Team ...

Tennis's leading names dress up for Olympic Book
www.itftennis.com/olympics/news/newsarticle.asp?articleid=18885

The ITF have announced the publication of its official Olympic Book ‘Journey to Beijing – Tennis celebrates the Olympics’. Over 40 of the world’s leading tennis players took part in the ITF project to help promote the 2008 Beijing Olympic Tennis Event.

The 140-page publication features a series of specially commissioned photographs of the game’s top names dressed as athletes from other summer or winter Olympic sports. These are accompanied by interviews with the players talking about their Olympic memories and hopes for Beijing.

The photographs were taken over a six-month period by some of the world’s leading tennis photographers, with photo shoots held in venues as varied as Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, Indian Wells, Los Angeles, Miami, Melbourne, Moscow, Netherlands, Palm Beach, Santiago, Shanghai and Tel Aviv.

Among the 44 players represented in the book are the two current world number ones, Roger Federer, who poses as a fencer, and Ana Ivanovic, who is shown playing beach volleyball, both in Miami. Rafael Nadal appears as a footballer on location in Shanghai, while Novak Djokovic takes advantage of Dubai’s indoor ski slope.

Maria Sharapova takes time out from a photo shoot to try rhythmic gymnastics in Los Angeles, while Serena Williams demonstrates her ice skating abilities at home in Palm Beach. Olympic champions Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez become marathon runners on the streets of Santiago, while wheelchair world No. 1 Esther Vergeer shows her versatility as a basketball player in the Netherlands.

Also: Mario & Ivan as Water Polo players, Marcos as a Discus Thrower, Team Argentina as Basketball players, Bob & Mike as Baseball players, David Ferrer as a Cyclist, Berdych & Safarova as Boxers, etc etc -- fun to look at the pics

The players also give an insight into the part the Olympics has played in their lives, with a series of exclusive interviews looking at their childhood memories, previous Olympic appearances and ambitions for this summer’s Games.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “I believe the book shows how proud current tennis players are to represent their countries in the Olympic Games as well as the importance the Olympics has played in their lives. In turn, we have witnessed the continued growth, not only of the Olympic Tennis Event, but also of the international reach of our sport since tennis returned to the Olympic Games in 1988.”

View the Book Here: viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?magid=86369#/page0/

[jenhatter06]

sweet ....

Olympic book competition

The International Tennis Federation has got 10 copies of its official Olympic book, 'Journey to Beijing – Tennis celebrates the Olympics’ to give away.

For your chance of winning this limited edition publication, answer the following question:

Which players do you think will win gold medals, in Beijing, in the four tennis events taking place?
These events are men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles.

Email your four answers (i.e Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, Bob and Mike Bryan, Serena and Venus Williams) to:

[e-mail]

The ten people who guess the correct gold medallists or who are closest to the right answers, will each win a copy of the book.

Entry to the competition will close on Sunday 9 August.

www.itftennis.com/olympics/news/newsarticle.asp?articleid=18949

[annie]

Oooh! I'm joining...

[sabz]

about the book, i have to say roger looks very suave as a fencer
and how short are rafa's shorts!! lol
nice book tho!

[coolgirl]

Thank you for the book link

I think Amelie Mauresmo's photo is the most beautiful ..and the Russian team the funniest.. ;D

About the contest, Id pick Andy Murray and Dinara Safina to win the Gold. I choose them because not only did they win the latest tournament but also both are not featured in the Olympic book and i think that's a sign , lol!

[sabz]

I think this goes here - very interesting, feel sorry for roger though!

Few smiles from Federer in Beijing

A quick glance towards the Centre Court scoreboard at the Olympic Tennis Centre hardly helped Roger Federer's prickly demeanour on Tuesday.

As the Swiss went through a sweaty two-hour practice with doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka the name of Tomas Berdych was frozen on to the screen alongside that of Federer.

A reminder of the Czech who stunned him at the Olympics four years ago in Athens was either a pure coincidence or the work of some mischievous technician. Whatever, Federer was not laughing as he avoided waiting reporters.

He barely smiled and hardly looked in the mood for a party at the world's greatest sporting festival as he went through his routines in sweltering conditions searching for the form that has suddenly deserted him.

Even his long-term girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec got the silent treatment as she sat on a courtside chair handing out water to the 12-times grand slam champion who lost his Wimbledon crown to Rafael Nadal last month and is soon to hand over the world number one ranking.

Over on an outside court the mood could hardly have been more different as Nadal, who will become top dog on August 18, enjoyed a relaxed hour-long hit with compatriot Tommy Robredo.

Nadal looked worry-free and jovial, chatting to reporters and signing autographs for some of the army of eager volunteers working at the venue.

He even played some football with a tennis ball with Robredo who he is sharing a room with in the nearby Olympic Village. He is clearly revelling in the atmosphere.

"It's something a little different to what we are used to but it's good," he said. "Now that I'm going to be number one my only thoughts are on the Olympics."

The one worry for Nadal is the amount of mileage his legs have put in over the past two months, a run that earned him a fourth French Open title, his first Wimbledon title and also the Toronto Masters Series.

"I only got here yesterday and I'm jet-lagged. I'm more tired than normal. Physically I've had a lot of matches this summer but in three or four days I will feel different."

Nadal's 32-match unbeaten streak came to an end against Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati last week but he can be forgiven one bad day at the office.

Federer's recent form suggests something much more worrying. After his Wimbledon heartache he then lost in the first round at Toronto and last week in Cincinnati to Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

He has won only two minor titles all year but Wawrinka, who will also have high hopes of a medal here, says he believes Federer can answer those ready to predict a long-term slide.

"For me he is the best player ever," world number 10 Wawrinka said. "He is in good spirits and will do what he needs to get back to world number one.

"He is going to be ready, it's one of his favourite tournaments for the year."

Wawrinka said he had chosen to stay in the athletes village, unlike his more illustrious team mate who has chosen the familiar luxuries of a five-star hotel.

"Roger's played twice before in the Olympics but this is my first one," he said. "I want to see how it is and enjoy it."

[coolgirl]

Some Beijing Pics:

[jenhatter06]

few more Fed & Rafa pics from Beijing:

[coolgirl]

Rafe, Roger mobbed by athletes in Olympic Village

MULTI-millionaire sports stars are being both mobbed and cut down to size at the athletes' village, which opened its doors to the media for the first time yesterday, allowing cameras to capture life in the Olympic inner sanctum.

Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, who arrived on Monday, was ribbed by Spanish teammates when he failed to take his food tray with him as he left the table at the communal dining hall.

"You are not a star here," one Spanish athlete said.

Both Nadal and world No1 Roger Federer were mobbed on arrival by athletes from around the world who spend a lifetime trying to earn what these tennis stars can collect in earnings after an early-round exit at a tournament.

Federer came under siege again when he went to the dining room, with fellow athletes wanting to get his autograph and pose for photos.

Two members of the Hockeyroos, striker Hope Monroe and Teneal Attard, who were in the dining room at the time, decided to keep a dignified distance, as did fellow Australians.

"You kind of feel sorry for the poor guy," Monroe said.

"He just wants to eat his lunch and he has a thousand people around him.

"I don't know if he actually got his lunch.

"We Australians are all pretty good like that. Obviously you are starstruck and you are in awe of them, but I don't think it's appropriate to put him in that position."

The athletes' village, which opened on July 27, is a 66-hectacre compound that, at its peak, will house 16,000 athletes, their coaches and support staff from a record 205 countries.

Located on the edge of the Olympic Green area which is the site of most major events, it features a series of modern apartment blocks ranging from six to nine storeys.

Most of the apartments have been bought off the plan by cashed-up Beijing residents who will move in following further building after the Paralympics.

The village provides free medical care for athletes, including dentistry and eye care, in a three-storey hospital located in the southern part of the village.

The hospital includes state of the art medical equipment including ultrasonic devices, electrocardiogram instruments and MRI.

There are also four ambulances to take patients to the nearest Olympic-appointed hospital.

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24136336-5017275,00.html

[justsafin]

sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/tennis/news/story?id=3521315&campaign=rss&source=TENNISHeadlines
Olympic tennis draw gets makeover as withdrawals replaced

Associated Press

Updated: August 6, 2008, 9:19 AM ET


BEIJING -- Mario Ancic withdrew from the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday, and Canadian players Frank Dancevic and Frederic Niemeyer were added to the men's draw.

Niemeyer replaced the 25th-ranked Ancic, while Dancevic replaced Denis Gremelmayr of Germany.

Rainer Schuettler of Germany, who got his spot in Beijing by winning an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, replaced Dudi Sela of Israel in the draw.

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who withdrew last week, was replaced by Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic.

In the women's draw, Maria Sharapova was replaced by Vera Zvonareva of Russia, and Jill Craybas of the United States took the place of Tamira Paszek of Austria.

Sharapova, who won the Australian Open and is ranked third in the world, pulled out last week because of a right shoulder injury.

The Olympic tennis tournament starts Sunday, two days after the opening ceremony, and will finish Aug. 17.

The ITF used the ATP and WTA rankings as a guide to determine who gets the 56 direct spots in the men's and women's singles competitions. Six of the remaining eight spots in each tournament were given out by the ITF's Olympic Committee.

[coolgirl]

The draw is out for the Olympics and OMG 1st rd Federer vs Tursunov

Men's Singles Draw

Women's Singles Draw

Women's Doubles Draw

Men's Doubles Draw

[jenhatter06]

oh me oh my, plenty of first round toughies

should be interesting ;D


... Team USA did not fare well at all with the draw
*prays for Bob & Mike to medal*

[sabz]

Federer-Nadal clash looms

A golden showdown between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal looms on the murky Beijing horizon as the Olympic tennis tournament begins.

Swiss Federer, the dominant force in men's tennis for the past five years, leads a grand slam quality field with serious questions to answer over his flagging form.

Nadal, who will replace Federer as the new world number one the day after the men's final whatever happens here, has no such worries, although a gruelling year may yet catch up with him in the sauna-like heat of Beijing.

Serbia's rise as a force in tennis is underlined by men's third seed Novak Djokovic and especially in the women's singles, where Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, who takes over as world number one on Monday, top the seedings.

Russia are also well-served despite the absence of Maria Sharapova, with world number three Svetlana Kuznetsova their best hope on her favourite hardcourt surface.

Eastern Europeans swamp the draw, but many predict American sisters Venus and Serena Williams will go home with gold in their racket bags.

"I love playing for my country," fourth seed Serena, a doubles winner with her sister in Sydney in 2000, where Venus also won the singles, said.

"Of all my trophies, my favourite is my Olympic gold medal. It was a life-changing experience."

Twenty years after the sport returned to the Games in Seoul amid some mild sceptism, there is no longer any doubt how seriously the players take the Olympics.

Germany's Rainer Schuettler even went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in his desperation to grab a late place in the 64-strong draw after falling short of the stringent ranking cut-off point in June. His appeal was successful, but the row with the ITF has rumbled on all week.

Federer, who failed to make an impact in Sydney or Athens, has long set his sights on an Olympic gold medal to add to the 12 grand slam titles he has already won.

The Swiss, who turned 27 on the day of the opening ceremony, has been working overtime in practise all week in stifling humidity, searching for the spark that could yet turn his year round after a gut-wrenching defeat by Nadal at Wimbledon.

While containing the powerhouse Majorcan is proving difficult for Federer, the thought of meeting him in a gold medal match is enticing.

"Our rivalry is great for tennis right now. I think we've played each other 16 times and given our ages we will probably play another 20 times," he said.

"We are very different characters but it is on the fair play side. I think we will leave our mark on the sport."

In the doubles events American twins Bob and Mike Bryan are seeded one while compatriots Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber offer hope of more American gold in the women's.