ACOG - News - IBM

(24 July 1996; Day 05)

No. 2 Seed IVANISEVIC Falls in Straight Sets

Second-seeded Goran IVANISEVIC (CRO) became the first major tennis casualty of the Olympic competition, suffering a surprising 6-2, 6-4 first-round loss to Marcos ONDRUSKA of South Africa.

Surprising, that is, to everyone but Ivanisevic, who admitted after the match that he "hadn't expected to do any better."

"I took 20 days off after Wimbledon," IVANISEVIC said. "I've had two days of practice since then, and didn't expect to win this match. So (the loss) didn't bother me much."

ONDRUSKA, however, knew exactly what to expect of IVANISEVIC, after losing to him in four previous meetings. He set out to upset the Croatian's well-known service game early in the first set, equaling IVANISEVIC's six aces with solid service returns.

"IVANISEVIC was going for a lot with his serve," ONDRUSKA said. "A bit much sometimes, but that's his game. He goes for aces, and missed a couple and I hit a few good ones back at the right times. When that happens, it's kind of easy for someone to go down two breaks like that. I'm not sure he was really expecting it."

ONDRUSKA converted on three of five break points with the help of IVANISEVIC, who had 42 unforced errors during the match. Clearly lacking in focus, the Croatian told reporters he hadn't taken the Games "so seriously, " choosing instead to focus on the upcoming hardcourt season.

"I decided that if I prepared well for (the Olympics), I was going to kill myself for the summer season," he said. "So I just took some time off and came here and gave it my best, which was not good enough. I still have ten days to prepare for the U.S. hardcourt season, plus I want to do well at this year's U.S. Open -- which I didn't do (last) year, so hopefully I can get well prepared for that."

On the surface, the games would seem the ideal warm-up for the Open: a two-week hardcourt tournament in humid conditions not unlike New York in the summertime, set against the backdrop of international competition.

But many of the world's best competitors have decided to pass on Atlanta altogether, including five of the last six Grand Slam finalists. In fact, only three of the world's Top 10 men's singles players -- Andre AGASSI (USA), No. 7 IVANISEVIC and No. 10 Thomas ENQVIST (SWE) -- arrived for opening rounds this week.

The men's ATP Tour itself has compounded the problem, scheduling two professional events during Olympic competition. This encourages many players to pursue an improved world ranking over an Olympic medal, if not just to rest and recover for the remainder of the season.

One exception is Wimbledon finalist Malvai WASHINGTON (USA), who dispatched Slovakian Jan KROSLAK, 6-3, 7-6, in his first-round match earlier in the day. But more bad news put a damper on even WASHINGTON's singles success, as his doubles partner, Richey RENEBERG (USA), was forced to retire from his first-round match with Leander PAES (IND), after aggravating a hamstring injury.

"I think right now it's pretty doubtful I am going to be playing doubles," said RENEBERG, the No. 14 singles seed. "But (he and WASHINGTON) are going to try (doubles) on Friday and see what happens."

As a result, a depleted men's singles draw continues to shrink, much to the disappointment of tennis fans. Until Wednesday, the Olympic story has not been who's here, but who's not. Now, it can be defined as who's out.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Melissa Horton.


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An estimated 5.3 million visted Centennial Olympic Park between opening day - 13 July - and closing day - 4 August, making the park the most single most visited Olympic site during the Games.