Venus, Kafelnikov rule but youngsters shine

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Sydney: Venus Williams and Yevgeny Kafelnikov ruled Olympic tennis at the 2000 Games, but the tournament also provided a glimpse into the future as promising young players also made their mark.

Russian teenager Elena Dementieva and 22-year-old German Tommy Haas take home silvers, but the best appears yet to come for them both.

Dementieva, 18, proved her run to the US Open semi-finals earlier this month was no fluke and that there are Russian women players worth watching besides Anna Kournikova.

Featuring a ferocious forehand and fierce competitive spirit, Dementieva outbattled another rising star, 17-year-old Australian Jelena Dokic, to reach the gold medal match.

Injury to 1996 champion Lindsay Davenport, the top seed, opened the door in the top half for the eager teenagers.

Haas, who Boris Becker once predicted would be Germany's next great men's player, rose to the Olympic occasion despite hip and back injuries that hampered him most of the year.

The German gave Kafelnikov all he could handle in the final, fighting through five gruelling sets before falling.

The men's bronze medal match featured two other fast rising players with France's Arnaud Di Pasquale, 21, defeating 19-year-old Swiss Roger Federer for the prize.

Absent stars weakened men's field

Young players had a greater opportunity to shine at the Games because of the absence of some of the top-ranked men. Their obvious determination to win for their country was evident, giving the tournament a high-intensity similar to the Davis Cup.

Andre Agassi, the 1996 champion, withdrew because of health problems in his family and fellow-American Pete Sampras gave Sydney a miss, deciding he could use the rest.

Six men's players in all pulled out before the start, and seeds in one half of the draw -- possibly worn out from their exertions at the recent U.S. Open -- fell fast.

Of the six US Open men's quarter-finalists in the Olympic draw, only France's Arnaud Clement was able to win one match before being eliminated.

Safin is biggest flop

Safin, whose awesome US Open triumph over Sampras had stirred the tennis world, was the biggest flop.

His round the world odyssey from New York to Tashkent, where he won another tournament, to Sydney in successive weeks ended in a frustrating first-round loss to tricky Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

Doubles ended in disappointment for Australia's famed duo, "The Woodies."Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, the 1996 champions, were beaten by Canada's Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor, who also removed another of Australia's favourites, Patrick Rafter, in the first round of singles.

Venus leads American women's charge

The women's tournament was dominated by Venus Williams, who extended her streak to 32 consecutive match wins by routing Dementieva 6-2, 6-4 in the final.

Williams, whose run has carried her to six titles including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, teamed up with her sister Serena to win the doubles over Dutch pair Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans 6-1, 6-1 -- the most one-sided final ever in Olympic tennis.

The Williams team became the first sisters to win Olympic doubles gold, and Venus joined Helen Wills (1924) as the only women to sweep singles and doubles gold at the same Games.

Monica Seles won the women's bronze over Dokic.

Venus Williams, whose heroics enabled the US women to sweep singles and doubles gold for the third straight Olympics, has been unbeatable since losing in the quarters of the French Open.

Earlier this season, Williams was considering early retirement as she recovered from tendinitis in her wrists.

Now she seems unstoppable.

Williams still has a long way to go before threatening the all-time women's winning streak of 74 straight matches set by Martina Navratilova in 1984.

But US women's coach Billie Jean King left the sport's promising young players with a scary prospect when discussing the state of the 20-year-old Williams' game.

"I think Venus is at 75 percent of her potential in singles and 50 percent in doubles," said former grand slam champion King.



(c) Reuters Limited.