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Tennis, No One?
Poor tennis. As always, the Olympic tournament played out on the periphery of the Games, overshadowed by sports more minor, outshone by athletes more obscure. News from the tennis center came off as an afterthought, trailing swimming and track, of course, but lapped even by fencing and beach volleyball and updates on pin trading.
Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium rolled Amélie Mauresmo of France for the women's gold on Saturday. On Sunday, 22 hours after he had won his country's first-ever gold medal, in doubles play, Nicolas Massu of Chile defeated the U.S.'s Mardy Fish to win the men's singles' final. But with RogerFederer and Andy Roddick--in addition to Venus Williams (inset)--out by the third round, the event had lost any hope of generating buzz. Last month, the loopy Marat Safin had gotten one thing right when he said, "Tennis doesn't need the Olympics." The reverse is true too. --S.L. Price
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ADAM BUTLER/AP (WILLIAMS)
