Tennis requires staying power

BEIJING - It was 1:15 a.m. at the Olympic Tennis Center, and top-ranked Jelena Jankovic sprawled out across her changeover chair and closed her eyes to catch some rest.

That can be hard to do at an event that has become an Olympic marathon.

The mixture of rain, long matches, and a heavy schedule has kept players - and hardy spectators - at the venue until the wee hours.

Yesterday morning, a weary Jankovic settled into her courtside seat when rain started falling as she was about to begin warming up for a match. Fifteen minutes later, the tournament called it a night - or morning. Last night's session went even later, in part because all four center-court matches were three-setters.

A couple thousand fans stayed until 3:35 a.m. this morning, their flag-waving chants drowning out the sound of crickets outside the stadium, as Yan Zi and Zheng Jie of China beat Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina of Russia in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8.

It was the latest known finish at any sporting event in Olympic history, the International Tennis Federation said.

Over on Court 1, Roger Federer waited until 10:45 last night to play doubles, while Swedes Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson took nearly five hours to win a doubles match. Their 19-17 third set was the longest in men's history at the Olympics.

"It makes it obviously very intriguing for fans to watch that type of match," Federer said. "But it completely throws off the schedule.

"We're not used to practicing at 2 in the morning. But it happens, you know. We, the players, have to be ready for those things."

Because the eight-day event has six rounds in singles, players must play nearly every day, which means waiting out rain delays.

"That's why they almost have to keep us here," Federer said. "It's brutal because we're playing this tournament in one week." (AP)