Nadal and Federer win twice at OlympicsBEIJING (AP)—Rafael Nadal took the court at 10:30 a.m. and hit his final shot more than 11 hours later. Roger Federer’s first day of Olympic tennis was slightly shorter but just as successful.
The two rivals, both bidding to become Olympic medalists for the first time, were winners in singles and doubles in the opening round Monday.
Playing the first match on center court, Nadal overcame numerous missed chances by sweeping the final four games to beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
The top-seeded Federer made his entrance less than an hour later. He beat Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-2, then received congratulations from one of the spectators, U.S. basketball star LeBron James.
Federer leaped to whack an overhead slam on match point, sealing his win with Swiss teammate Stanislas Wawrinka over Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi of Italy, 7-5, 6-1.
A little later, Spaniards Nadal and Tommy Robredo beat Jonas Bjorkman and Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-3, 6-3..
Nadal played doubles but not singles at the Athens Olympics in 2004. At Beijing he’s staying in the athletes’ village, savoring the atmosphere and hoping to sustain a summer surge that has assured him of the No. 1 ranking next week.
“I am very happy to be here,” Nadal said. “Just trying to enjoy 100 percent the experience, and later try my best on court.”
Other singles winners included Venus and Serena Williams, along with Novak Djokovic, the biggest impediment to a Nadal-Federer final in singles.
No. 7 seed Venus Williams, playing her first match since winning Wimbledon for the fifth time, beat Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-2. Williams, who swept the gold medals in singles and doubles in 2000, showed no sign of the knee injury that sidelined her in recent weeks.
“I feel really good about the match—not a lot of unforced errors, no service breaks,” Williams said. “I did the right things to come out on top.”
Her sister Serena, seeded fourth, won all four games when her match resumed after an overnight rain interruption, and she beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus, 6-3, 6-1.
Like Nadal, Serena Williams was playing her first singles match at the Olympics. She won a gold medal in doubles in 2000 with sister Venus.
“It’s a great thing going out there playing for your country,” Serena said.
The No. 3-seeded Djokovic beat Robby Ginepri of the United States 6-4, 6-4. American Sam Querrey lost to Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 6-4, leaving James Blake as the only U.S. male to reach the second round of singles.
Blake and Querrey were eliminated in doubles by Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3, 6-4.
On the women’s side, Jill Craybas—who learned only Wednesday she had made the American team—lost to No. 13 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2.
Jelena Jankovic of Serbia began her reign as the world’s No. 1 player by beating Zimbabwe’s Cara Black 6-3, 6-3. Jankovic, seeded second in Beijing, supplanted Ana Ivanovic atop the rankings Monday.
Ivanovic withdrew from the tournament Sunday because of a thumb injury.
It was a good day for the Chinese women. Li Na delighted the center-court crowd by upsetting No. 3-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-4. Also advancing were Zheng Jie, a semifinalist this year at Wimbledon, and Peng Shuai.
Nicolas Massu of Chile opened his bid to repeat as Olympic champion by beating Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-4, 7-5. But Massu and Fernando Gonzalez, who won the gold medal in doubles at Athens, were beaten by Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (5), 6-4.
No. 5 David Ferrer and No. 6 Andy Murray lost in singles.
With his early start, Nadal at times appeared to need a wakeup call. He struggled on the backhand side, and shook his head or rolled his eyes when usually reliable strokes misfired. Because of Beijing’s oppressive humidity, Nadal said, he was changing his shirt every 10 minutes.
A highlight-reel rally got him going in the third set. Nadal sprinted into the alley near the net in pursuit of a ball and scooped a forehand winner cross-court as he braked to avoid running into the post, then fell to his back. He rose and threw a jubilant fist, leaving behind a splotch of sweat on the concrete.
After failing to convert seven consecutive break-point chances in the second and third sets, he broke for a 4-2 lead in the final set. He erased a 15-40 deficit on his serve in the next game, then broke again for the victory.
“I had a lot of opportunities. I didn’t convert, so that was tough,” Nadal said. “But I was winning the serves without problems. He had more problems than me when he was serving, so that gave me confidence.”
Seeded second, Nadal is on a roll after beating Federer in the finals at the French Open and Wimbledon. The latter result compounded Federer’s yearlong slump, and regardless of the outcome at Beijing, he’ll be supplanted atop the rankings by Nadal next week.
“It’s just a matter of losing some matches where I feel like I shouldn’t have lost,” Federer said. “And then sometimes it plays a trick in your mind where you think maybe you’re not playing that well actually, but it’s actually not the case. So it’s a matter of keeping yourself in a positive mindset.”
Federer has won only two tournaments in 2008, and an Olympic gold medal would help him salvage the year after he was shut out of the medal chase at Sydney in 2000 and at Athens in 2004
Click here to watch live beijing olympics all sports
Badminton - Singles and Doubles 10:00PM EST 8/10
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Badminton - Singles and Doubles 10:00PM EST 8/10
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Fencing - Women's Individual Foil 10:00PM EST 8/10
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Judo - Women's 57kg and Men's 73kg 12:00AM EST 8/11
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Judo - Women's 57kg and Men's 73kg 12:00AM EST 8/11
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Tennis - Federer vs. Tursunov 1:00AM EST 8/11
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Tennis - Hewitt vs. Bjorkman 1:00AM EST 8/11
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Tennis - Tipsarevic vs. Ferrer 1:00AM EST 8/11
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Summer Olympics on NBC 1:00AM EST 8/11
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Sailing Series Races - RS:X and 470 classes 1:00AM EST 8/11
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Women's Handball - Angola vs Norway 2:00AM EST 8/11
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Women's Olympic Basketball - TBA 2:30AM EST 8/11
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Shooting - Women's trap final 3:00AM EST 8/11
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Rowing - Quarterfinals and Repechages 3:30AM EST 8/11
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Weightlifting - Women's 58kg 3:30AM EST 8/11
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Archery - Men's Team Event 4:00AM EST 8/11
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Women's Olympic Basketball - TBA 4:45AM EST 8/11
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Tennis - Singles and doubles 5:00AM EST 8/11
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Tennis - Singles and doubles 5:00AM EST 8/11
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Judo - Women's 57kg and Men's 73kg 6:00AM EST 8/11
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Judo - Women's 57kg and Men's 73kg 6:00AM EST 8/11
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Field Hockey - Men's Prelims 6:00AM EST 8/11
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Field Hockey - Men's Prelims 6:30AM EST 8/11
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Badminton - Singles and Doubles 6:30AM EST 8/11
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Badminton - Singles and Doubles 6:30AM EST 8/11
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Badminton - Singles and Doubles 6:30AM EST 8/11
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Weightlifting - Men's 62kg 7:00AM EST 8/11
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Women's Handball - China vs Romania 7:00AM EST 8/11
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Women's Olympic Basketball - China vs United States 8:00AM EST 8/11
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Summer Olympics on NBC 10:00AM EST 8/11
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Badminton - Singles, Doubles & Mixed 10:00PM EST 8/11
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Badminton - Singles, Doubles & Mixed 10:00PM EST 8/11
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Weightlifting - (M) 69kg, (W) 63kg 10:00PM EST 8/11
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Tennis - Singles and doubles 10:30PM EST 8/11
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Tennis - Singles and doubles 10:30PM EST 8/11
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Tennis - Singles and doubles 10:30PM EST 8/11
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The Big Bang Theory (IE ONLY) 11:00PM EST 8/11
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Men's Olympic Basketball - Croatia vs Russia 11:15PM EST 8/11
Beijing quiet before opening ceremony Beijing quiet before opening ceremony BEIJING (AP)—After seven years of buildup and billions of dollars in preparations, world leaders and China’s elite gathered Friday for the most lavish opening ceremony in Olympic history. But Beijing residents without a ticket were asked to stay home. Millions of workers in the teeming Chinese capital were given the day off and many shops were shut Friday, as Beijing traffic officials advised people to reduce outdoor visits and watch the opening ceremony at home on television in an effort to reduce congestion. Wang Lijun, who works in the real estate business in Beijing, said he was thinking about going to watch Friday night’s extravaganza on a giant screen at one of 24 live sites set up around the city. But he had not made up his mind yet — and the opening ceremony was not that important for him, anyway. “It’s the actual competition that’s worth watching,” he said. “I don’t have any tickets to Olympics events but my family and I will watch them on TV. We are looking forward to watching the sports that China will excel at like ping pong and badminton. Roads in the city of 17 million were closed around the National Stadium, the Bird’s Nest, and traffic restrictions in force near central Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the People where Chinese President Hu Jintao met with foreign leaders. Away from the highly-manicured games precinct, the Olympics buzz was there, but more subdued. Du Chao, 30, who runs one of the few small shops opened in Beijing’s main business district, said he would close the shop early because he expects his usual customers to be at home watching the ceremony. Business hadn’t been good this month because of the games, he said. Still, he was excited. “These types of things happened only once in a thousand years,” Du said as he sold water and ice cream. “I’ve even bought a small television so I can watch all these football matches in my shop.” Chen Xiaowei, a mother who brought her two kids from the western city of Xi’an to see the volleyball, said they will stay in the hotel. “We will go home tonight to watch the opening ceremony together because we don’t want to run into crowds outside,” she said. “Also it’s much cooler in the hotel.” For Chinese dissidents, human rights lawyers, and other activists who have dared to challenge the rule of the Communist Party, which has spent more than $40 billion on the games and enlisted the support of the entire nation, the start of the Olympics meant more surveillance and tighter restrictions. “I have no plan for tonight,” Jiang Tianyong, a human rights lawyer, said from his home. “It’s not my Olympic Games. It’s not the games for the ordinary people.” Jiang who lives in Changping, a Beijing suburb, said police were coming to question him in the afternoon. “I don’t know if I will come home tonight,” he said. “I want to say something: International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has said the games will bring fundamental changes to China. I will reserve my opinions on that.” While festivities were muted and one of the Olympics slogans of “I participate, I contribute, I enjoy” seemed unlikely for most, some residents still were trying to make the best of the date—the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the new century. Chinese consider eight to be an auspicious number because it sounds like the word for prosperity. The official Xinhua News Agency said a record 16,400 couples had registered to get married Friday. Others started to place bets on Olympics events. Robert Zhang, 25, who works in the retail business, was watching a giant screen in downtown Beijing. He said he was going to put a bet on the German and U.S. soccer teams, because eight is a lucky number. “I believe that eight is a good luck number but today is 88 days since the Wenchuan earthquake, so I have my doubts,” he said, referring to China’s May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province that killed nearly 70,000. The Olympics have been a huge source of national pride, and many Chinese say it is the realization of a 100-year dream for the country. The concept dates from Zhang Boling, a sports enthusiast who founded Nankai University in the port city of Tianjin, who wrote in an article in 1907-08 on his dream for a Chinese Olympic team. The idea held particular resonance at the time with China, as its ancient imperial system was in crisis, the country was divided by Western powers and had been defeated by Japan in battle. Associated Press writer Chi-Chi Zhang in Beijing contributed to this article. Didi Tang in Beijing also
Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008 8:00PM EST 8/8
Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008 8:00PM EST 8/8
Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008 8:00PM EST 8/8
Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008 7:30PM EST 8/8
Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008 7:30PM EST 8/8
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