Tennis stars struggle

Only two of the eight Olympics singles semi-finalists are left after two rounds of the US Open.

On the men's side, all the medal winners -- Chile's Nicolas Massu (gold), American Mardy Fish (silver) and Chilean Fernando Gonzalez -- have been eliminated, while Taylor Dent, who lost the bronze medal match to Gonzalez, also fell in New York y zesterday.

Women's bronze medallist Alicia Molik has been bounced, silver medallist Amelie Mauresmo needed three sets against unheralded Croatian Julia Vakulenko and the Athens tournament winner, Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, conceded that Isrelai Tzipora Obziler "had the right to beat me" in a gruelling three-set match yesterday, according to the Australian.

Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne scraped through to the third round of the US Open yesterday but her progress was about as smooth as rush-hour traffic in downtown Manhattan.

The Belgian lost her serve seven times and racked up 47 unforced errors during her 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 defeat of former Israeli soldier Tzipora Obziler and she will need a dramatic improvement if she is to advance deep into the tournament.

American trio Andre Agassi, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams together with Russia's Maria Sharapova all experienced a few hitches before rolling on, although French Open champions Gaston Gaudio and Anastasia Myskina were sent packing, informs New Zealand Herald.

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