The disaster that was expected for the United States men in Olympic tennis began a bit ahead of schedule Tuesday when Vince Spadea and Todd Martin lost first-round matches.
Spadea’s 6-4, 6-3 departure was pretty much a foregone conclusion because he was playing Australian favorite Pat Rafter in the first match on the new center court at the new Olympic Stadium. And as the world’s 177th-ranked player, Spadea would have been unlikely to advance.
As predictable as Spadea’s defeat was, Martin’s wasn’t. The veteran from Northwestern, who now lives in Florida, came into his first-round match against German Rainer Schuttler with a No. 54 ranking but with a history of staying near the top 10 and a record that lists two Grand Slam event finals, including last year’s U.S. Open.
But Schuttler took out Martin in 63 minutes 6-2, 6-0, and Martin stated the obvious afterward when he said, “It was a pretty long way to travel for just 14 games.”
Martin said he just wasn’t at his best and Schuttler was.
“I was flat,” Martin said, “but my flatness became even worse as I watched him chase down point after point and pass me time after time.”
Martin, who barely missed a spot on the 1996 Olympic team when Mal Washington edged him by a few ranking points the week before the team was picked, said he still was determined to enjoy this Olympic experience.
“I will stay here for a few days–not sure how long–and watch other events,” Martin said. “I wouldn’t trade aything for getting the chance to play here, even though I got my clock cleaned.”
More Top Picks Pull Buoy
The U.S. women, expected to take a different route than the men, started in that direction.
Monica Seles, seeded third, took only 48 minutes to oust Katalin Marosi-Aracama of Hungary 6-0, 6-1. Seles hit 17 winners and had twice as many points as her opponent.
Lindsay Davenport is seeded No. 1 here and Venus Williams No. 2.