我一直期盼有个世界网球赛什么的，为甚么只让四个国家网络天下英雄呢？(这里有个预言澳大利亚公开赛权威性是头一个会被挑战的)
奥运就是个很好的竞争嘛，而且只会愈来愈强
不用想都可以猜到今天智利是什么情况，除了不向伊拉克人那样有开枪庆祝可怕习惯外疯狂劲肯定一点不差

Massu and Fish bring out Olympic spirit in tennis
By STEVE WILSTEIN, AP Sports Columnist

August 22, 2004

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Mardy Fish had tears in his eyes during the medal ceremony, just as he thought he would, but for a different reason than he envisioned.

He wanted the gold around his neck, the most cherished prize in a career filled with more promise than achievement, but that wasn't what tugged at his heart.

In a sport that is mostly about money and rankings, me, myself and I, Fish was thinking only about what it would have meant to see the American flag in the middle of the two other flags and hear ``The Star-Spangled Banner.''

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That, he knew, would trigger the tears.

``Sure enough, they came,'' he said, ``but it was a song that I had never heard of.''

The song was Chile's national anthem and no one else had ever heard it at an Olympics until this weekend. Now it's been played twice in less than 24 hours -- the first time to mark the 3 1/2 -hour doubles victory of Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez in the wee hours Sunday morning, the second time just before midnight after Massu beat Fish in five sets that lasted exactly four hours.

``In my opinion -- and a lot of players have a different view of it -- I think that the Olympics is the biggest thing and a gold medal is the biggest prize in sports,'' said Fish, who still won a silver no one expected him to get.

There are all kinds of reasons why tennis should not be an Olympic sport. It already has four majors and doesn't need a fifth every four years. The yearlong schedule is already too crowded with tournaments, and holding one of this magnitude that ends a week before the U.S. Open risks wearing the players down or burning them out. Players, especially on the women's side, are injured enough as it is.

But then you look at players like Massu and Fish, see the gutsy way they played, take in the roaring crowds, the flags waving, the anthems, and the arguments for keeping tennis in the games become far more persuasive.

The Olympics add a different level of prestige to the sport and distinction to the winner. They give players a chance to per???? for their country and teammates, rather than just for themselves. The Olympics give tennis, a sport played by millions worldwide, a stage it doesn't have even in the Grand Slams.

And, perhaps more important than anything else, the players love the experience.

Winning an Olympic gold in 1996 meant as much to Andre Agassi as any of his eight Grand Slam titles. Venus Williams felt the same way four years ago in Sydney.

Andy Roddick came here craving gold, as much for his country as for himself, and said he felt ``gutted'' when he lost. Roger Federer, whose elegant game brought him a second Wimbledon title last month, was proud to carry Switzerland's flag at the opening ceremony and desperately wanted to reciprocate the honor by giving his nation a gold.

``I saw Federer,'' Massu said. ``I saw what he looked like when he lost. I've never seen him like that. He looked totally devastated.

``I won the gold medal. I'm not going to worry about whether (other players) feel like playing an Olympic Games or not. That's their business, not mine. This has been a historic achievement. For me, the Olympic Games are much more important.''

Sure, it would be important to Massu or Fish, players who have never gotten past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament, never been ranked in the top 10.

But other players, champions, have been saying the same thing all week, and they weren't all blowing smoke for the sake of pumping up the games.

Roddick, who will defend his U.S. Open title next week, said a gold here ``would be on par, in my eyes'' with any major.

Martina Navratilova, an Olympic rookie at 47, gushed about the experience.

``The first game I served, the first toss, I thought, 'OK, this is your first Olympic toss,' and it was a good one and I hit a good serve,'' she said.

She got into the pin trading, the camaraderie with her U.S. teammates, the conversations with other Americans and athletes from around the world.

Maybe it's the pressure of the games or the flag-waving fans, but the Olympics also produce surprising finalists, especially among the men.

Czech Miloslav Mecir beat American Tim Mayotte for the gold when tennis became a medal sport in 1988 for the first time in 64 years. Switzerland's Marc Rosset beat Spain's Jordi Arrese in 1992. And after Agassi won in Atlanta, Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov beat Germany's Tommy Haas in Sydney.

Massu and Fish continued that quirky tradition. They watched the big names fall all around them and they persevered, surviving the heat and tension of a tournament that meant much more than gold.

Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at swilstein(at)ap.org

Updated on Sunday, Aug 22, 2004