Roddick, Venus Williams ousted in tennis

By DAVID DuPREE

USA TODAY

ATHENS, Greece — The United States’ top tennis players, Andy Roddick and Venus Williams, considered gold medal contenders, were ousted Wednesday in the third round in straight sets.

Second-seeded Roddick appeared to be on a easy road to the gold, especially after top-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland was beaten Tuesday. But Roddick proved to be no match for Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, falling 6-4, 6-4.

Roddick, whose game is built around his serve, had 13 aces, but he was broken once in each set and never broke Gonzalez, the 16th seed.

"It’s not everyday we get to play in the Olympics," a dejected Roddick said. "You can’t say ‘next year.’ It’s tough to lose, but that’s part of it. It was still a great experience."

Williams also had trouble with her serve in losing to unseeded Mary Pierce of France 6-4, 6-4.

Williams had her normally reliable serve broken twice in each set and committed 51 unforced errors. She never got in a groove and played from behind in practically every game against the very patient Pierce.

At 4-4 in the second set, Williams had a break point against Pierce but wasted it with a backhand into the net, lost the next point with a forehand wide and then lost the game with another backhand error. The poised Pierce then broke Williams to win the match. Williams double-faulted on match point.

Williams was not very talkative afterwards as she was nearly in tears. She felt she had a good chance to win her second singles gold medal. She won gold in singles and doubles, with her sister Serena, at the 2000 Olympics. Serena pulled out of the Athens Games at the last minute with a knee injury. That left Williams to play doubles with Chanda Rubin. It was the first time they played together, and they lost in the first round.

"Obviously, I would have liked to have won the title," Williams said after her match with Pierce. "But all I can do now is learn from my mistakes. It was definitely worthwhile to come here; it just didn’t end the way I had hoped it would."

Coming off a 6-0, 6-0, 39-minute romp Tuesday against Maja Matevzic, Williams was starting to look like the player to beat in the women’s draw. That was all changed by the unseeded Pierce, who is ranked 28th in the world.

Pierce never got rattled and buckled down on the big points, mixing in timely drop shots with blistering down-the-line forehands that had Williams off balance.

"She served well, and she played some good points at the right times," Williams said.

Next for the professional tennis players is the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 30 in New York. But that wasn’t what was on Roddick’s mind. He said he wanted to win an Olympic gold medal just as much as he wants to win grand slams.

"This is tough," he said. "I think with each player it’s personal as to how big it is. Some guys don’t really care that much. I cared a lot. Winning a gold medal at the Olympics isn’t the biggest thing in our sport, but it’s the biggest thing in sports."