Men's Singles/Semifinals
AGASSI, BRUGUERA to Face Off in Finals
Top-seeded Andre AGASSI (USA) advanced to the Olympic men's singles final Thursday, ending wildcard Leander PAES's (IND) Cinderella bid for the gold medal with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory in the semifinal round at Stone Mountain Park. Until meeting AGASSI, PAES had previously dropped only one set while upsetting three of the tournament's top 16 seeds to reach the semis, and will now meet Brazil's Fernando MELIGENI Saturday to play for the bronze medal.
Earlier in the day, unseeded Sergi BRUGUERA became the second Spanish player to reach a 1996 Olympic singles final, defeating MELIGENI, 7-6 (9), 6-2. A two-time Olympian like his teammate, women's singles finalist Aranxta SANCHEZ VICARIO (ESP), BRUGUERA is making his first appearance in the singles gold medal round.
"I feel pretty confident," Andre AGASSI said of his chances of taking the men's singles gold. "I feel I'm playing aggressively when I should, sizing up the court well and working the point. Saturday is as big a match for me as playing in any Grand Slam final, from here on in my career, certainly."
Germany, Spain Take Men's and Women's Olympic Doubles Bronze
The 30th-ranked pair of David PRINOSIL and Marc-Kevin GOELLNER claimed Germany's second-consecutive Olympic doubles medal Thursday, defeating Paul HARRHUIS and Jacco ELTINGH of the Netherlands, 6-2, 7-5, in the men's bronze medal match at Stone Mountain Tennis Center. The team of Boris BECKER and Michael STICH were Germany's last Olympic men's doubles medalists, taking the gold in 1992.
After dropping the first set, the Dutch pair rallied to a 5-4 lead in the second, but four straight points on GOELLNER's serve tied the match at 5-all. The Germans then broke HAARHUIS to take a 6-5 lead before PRINOSIL served out the match, 7-5.
Earlier in the day, Spain's Arantxa SANCHEZ VICARIO and Conchita MARTINEZ brought home their second-straight Olympic medal, taking the women's doubles bronze with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Manon BOLLEGRAF and Brenda SCHULTZ-MCCARTHY (NED). MARTINEZ and SANCHEZ VICARIO were also silver medalists at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
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| Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium. |