BEIJING — Roger Federer’s long slump continued and his bid for a first Olympic singles medal ended Thursday when he lost 6-4, 7-6 (2) to American James Blake.
So began an upset parade in the quarterfinals as Serena Williams lost to Russia’s Elena Dementieva and Venus Williams was defeated by China’s Li Na.
Upsets have long been the norm in Olympic tennis — since 1988 no top-five player has won the gold medal in men’s singles.
The fifth-seeded Dementieva, who won a silver medal in Sydney in 2000, raced to a 5-0 lead in the final set and held on to beat Serena Williams 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. The unseeded Li then delighted a partisan center-court crowd by eliminating Venus Williams 7-5, 7-5.
Blake’s semifinal opponent will be Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-4, 6-4.
Second-seeded Rafael Nadal defeated Jurgen Melzer 6-0, 6-4 and his semifinal opponent will be No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who rallied to defeat Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
U.S. nine rebounds.
Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Matt LaPorta hit a three-run homer and Matt Brown added a solo shot as the American baseball team bounced back from losing their opener by beating the Netherlands 7-0.
En garde!
The Three Musketeers of the U.S. women’s saber team weren’t so good as a team.
After sweeping the individual medals, Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson and Becca Ward settled for bronze after a surprising loss in the semifinals. They were beaten by Ukraine, which went on to win gold.
Footnotes.
Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay advanced out of their first heats in the 100-meter dash today.
Gay, racing for the first time since hurting his left hamstring at U.S. Olympic Trials, had no trouble winning his heat, crossing the line in 10.22 seconds. Bolt, the world-record holder from Jamaica, won his heat in 10.20, and his countryman Powell won his heat in 10.16.
• Kim Jong Su, a North Korean shooter, was stripped of his two medals and expelled from the Games along with Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do after both failing doping tests.
• Both American women’s teams — Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, and the duo of Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs — wrapped up a 3-0 record in pool play today, sending them into the 16-team medal round.
• Houston Rockets star Yao Ming scored 30 points to lead China’s men’s basketball team past Angola 85-68 for the hosts’ first win of the tournament Thursday.
• In skeet shooting, American Kim Rhode was part of a three-way tie decided by a shoot-off. Rhode wound up with a silver to go with the double trap gold she won in 1996 and 2004; the women’s version was eliminated before Beijing. Italy’s Chiara Cainero won the gold.
• The U.S. women’s field hockey team let a 2-1 lead turn into a 4-2 loss to Germany, dropping to 0-1-2.
• Mongolia won its first gold medal in any sport when Tuvshinbayar Naidan captured the men’s 100-kilogram judo division.
• Germany won the equestrian grand prix dressage.
The Associated Press
