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August 3, 2000
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Paes-Bhupathi get direct Olympics entry
Shailesh Soni
India's medal prospects at the Sydney Olympics got a big boost Thursday when Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were given direct entry for the men's doubles event by the International Tennis Federation.
The ITF announced the list of direct entries for the 2000 Olympic tennis event, scheduled for September 19-28, at the Olympic Tennis Facility at Homebush Bay, Sydney.
There are 40 countries represented in the direct acceptances into the event. In the men's singles there are 24 direct entries, while the women's singles has 26; the men's doubles and women's doubles has 24 each.
The wildcard entries will be announced on August 15.
In the men's singles, the 1996 Atlanta gold medallist Andre Agassi of the United States will attempt to defend his title against a field that includes 17 of the top 20 men in the current ATP Tour entry system.
Agassi said of the Olympics, "To me, the Olympic Games represent the core of what sports are all about - human challenge and triumph. The reward is pride - not anything material or short-lived."
Among the more prominent players who will compete in Sydney are Magnus Norman and Thomas Enqvist of Sweden; Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil; Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin of Russia; Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter and Mark Philippoussis of Australia; Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador and Alex Corretja and Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.
In the men's doubles, defending champions Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde lead the list that includes Jared Palmer and Alex O'Brien of the United States, Jiri Novak and David Rikl of Czech Republic and Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India.
In the women's singles, Lindsay Davenport of the United States will, like her compatriot Andre Agassi, attempt to win a second Olympic gold medal. Davenport will be joined by Venus Williams and Monica Seles of the United States as well as Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, Anke Huber of Germany, Sandrine Testud and Amelie Mauresmo of France, Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, Dominique van Roost of Belgium and Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
Twelve of the current top 20 players have entered the competition. However, the rules for the Olympic tennis women's singles only permits three representatives from any country. The United States has six women in the top 20 while France has five.
In the women's doubles, Venus and Serena Williams will hope to emulate the accomplishment of their countrywomen, Gigi and Mary Joe Fernandez, who won back-to-back gold medals for the USA in Barcelona and Atlanta.
ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti commented: "This is the strongest field ever to compete in the Olympic tennis event. We are gratified that many top players have responded to the call to represent their countries in the Olympic Games. We look forward to Sydney and to the outstanding tennis we will see there."
The direct entries are as follows
:
Men's singles event
ARGENTINA: Juan Ignacio Chela, Mariano Zabaleta, Franco Squillari, Gaston Gaudio
ARMENIA: Sargis Sargsian
AUSTRALIA: Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter, Mark Philippoussis, Andrew Ilie
BELARUS: Max Mirnyi, Vladimir Voltchkov
BRAZIL: Gustavo Kuerten
CHILE: Marcelo Rios, Nicolas Massu
CROATIA: Goran Ivanisevic
CZECH REPUBLIC: Jiri Novak, Slava Dosedel, Jiri Vanek
ECUADOR: Nicolas Lapentti
FRANCE: Nicolas Escude, Sebastien Grosjean, Arnaud Clement, Arnaud Di Pasquale
GERMANY: Nicolas Kiefer, Tommy Haas, David Prinosil, Rainer Schuttler
GREAT BRITAIN: Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski
ITALY: Gianluca Pozzi
MOROCCO: Younes El Aynaoui, Karim Alami, Hicham Arazi
NORWAY: Christian Ruud
ROMANIA: Andrei Pavel
RUSSIA: Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin
SLOVAK REPUBLIC: Dominik Hrbaty, Karol Kucera
SOUTH AFRICA: Wayne Ferreira
SPAIN: Alex Corretja, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Albert Costa, Fernando Vicente
SWEDEN: Magnus Norman, Thomas Enqvist, Thomas Johansson
SWITZERLAND: Roger Federer, Marc Rosset, George Bastl
UKRAINE: Andrei Medvedev
USA: Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Todd Martin, Jeff Tarango
Men's Doubles Event:
ARGENTINA: Juan Ignacio Chela, Mariano Zabaleta
AUSTRALIA: Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde
BAHAMAS: Mark Knowles, Mark Merklein
BRAZIL: Gustavo Kuerten, Jaime Oncins
CANADA: Daniel Nestor, Sebastien Lareau
CZECH REPUBLIC: Jiri Novak, David Rikl
FRANCE: Nicolas Escude, Arnaud Clement
GERMANY: Tommy Haas, David Prinosil
GREAT BRITAIN: Barry Cowan, Kyle Spencer
INDIA: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi
ITALY: Cristian Brandi, Massimo Bertolini
JAPAN: Thomas Shimada, Satoshi Iwabuchi
MEXICO: Alejandro Hernandez, Enrique Abaroa
PORTUGAL: Nuno Marques, Bernardo Mota
ROMANIA: Andrei Pavel, Gabriel Trifu
RUSSIA: Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Marat Safin
SLOVAK REPUBLIC: Dominik Hrbaty, Karol Kucera
SOUTH AFRICA: David Adams, John-Laffnie De Jager
SPAIN: Alex Corretja, Albert Costa
SWEDEN: Nicklas Kulti, Mikael Tillstrom
SWITZERLAND: Roger Federer, Marc Rosset
USA: Alex O'Brien, Jared Palmer
YUGOSLAVIA: Nenad Zimonjic, Dusan Vemic
ZIMBABWE: Wayne Black, Kevin Ullyett
Women' Singles Event:
ARGENTINA: Paola Lorena Suarez, Maria Florencia Labat
AUSTRALIA: Jelena Dokic, Nicole Pratt
AUSTRIA: Barbara Schett, Patricia Wartusch, Sylvia Plischke
BELARUS: Natasha Zvereva, Olga Barabanschikova
BELGIUM: Dominique Van Roost, Sabine Appelmans
CANADA: Sonja Jeyaseelan, Jana Nejedly
CHINA: Jing Qian Yi
COLOMBIA :Fabiola Zuluaga
CROATIA: Silvija Talaja
CZECH REPUBLIC: Kvetoslava Hrdlickova, Adriana Gersi
FRANCE: Amelie Mauresmo, Sandrine Testud, Nathalie Dechy
GERMANY: Anke Huber, Jana Kandarr
HUNGARY: Rita Kuti Kis
ITALY: Tathiana Garbin, Rita Grande, Silvia Farina
JAPAN: Ai Sugiyama
LUXEMBOURG: Anne Kremer
NETHERLANDS: Kristie Boogert
ROMANIA: Ruxandra Dragomir
RUSSIA: Elena Dementieva, Elena Likhovtseva, Anastasia Myskina
SLOVAK REPUBLIC: Karina Habsudova, Henrieta Nagyova
SOUTH AFRICA: Amanda Coetzer
SPAIN: Conchita Martinez, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Magui Serna
SWITZERLAND: Patty Schnyder, Emmanuelle Gagliardi
THAILAND: Tamarine Tanasugarn
USA: Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Monica Seles
ZIMBABWE: Cara Black
Women's Doubles Event:
ARGENTINA: Paola Lorena Suarez, Laura Montalvo
AUSTRALIA: Renee Stubbs, Jelena Dokic
AUSTRIA: Barbara Schett, Patricia Wartusch
BELARUS: Natasha Zvereva, Olga Barabanschikova
BELGIUM: Dominique Van Roost, Els Callens
BRAZIL: Joana Cortez, Vanessa Menga
CANADA: Sonja Jeyaseelan, Vanessa Webb
CHINA: Na Li, Ting Li
FRANCE: Sandrine Testud, Julie Halard-Decugis
GERMANY: Anke Huber, Jana Kandarr
GREAT BRITAIN: Lorna Woodroffe, Julie Pullin
HUNGARY: Katalin Marosi, Petra Mandula
ITALY: Rita Grande, Silvia Farina
JAPAN: Ai Sugiyama, Nana Miyagi
NETHERLANDS: Miriam Oremans, Kristie Boogert
ROMANIA: Catalina Cristea, Ruxandra Dragomir
RUSSIA: Elena Likhovtseva, Anastasia Myskina
SLOVAK REPUBLIC: Karina Habsudova, Janette Husarova
SOUTH AFRICA: Amanda Coetzer, Mariaan De Swardt
SPAIN: Conchita Martinez, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
SWITZERLAND: Patty Schnyder, Emmanuelle Gagliardi
THAILAND: Tamarine Tanasugarn, Benjamas Sangaram
UKRAINE: Elena Tatarkova, Anna Zaporozhanova
USA: Venus Williams, Serena Williams
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