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The Nat and Anna Show

Tauziat and Kournikova take center stage in Luxembourg

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SYDNEY, Australia -- Venus Williams of the U.S. will dispute the women's gold-medal match with Russia's Elena Dementieva on Wednesday. But as the final days of Olympic tennis play out, the eyes of tennis watchers in Sydney will wander far from the antipodes.

There's a WTA event in Luxembourg this week, and France's Nathalie Tauziat is top seed. If you're a member of the Fourth Estate like me, or simply keen on freedom of the speech, you can't help but be pulling for Tauziat.

From Sports Illustrated • SI Images: Photos from the Games • Tim Layden: Jones down but certainly not out • Leigh Montville: Level the playing field • E.M. Swift: Romanian gymnast is the victim in a half-hearted war • Grant Wahl: U.S. men deserve kudos for inspiring run • Michael Farber: U.S.-Cuba face off in gold-medal game • Alex Wolff: Tennis -- Go Nathalie • Phil Taylor: Dream Team needs to wake up • SI For Women's Kelli Anderson: Berg keeps life in perspective after game-winner More Features • Day at a Glance: The name game • Wake-up Call: Tracking the day in sports • Viewers' Guide: Sept. 26 • Closer Look: Soccer -- Spanish defender claw Wolff • Quiz: Today's Tester Athletes • Just Checking In: U.S. softball pitcher Michele Smith • Head Games: U.S. hurdler Melissa Morrison • Head Games: American swimmer Kristy Kowal • Head Games: American swimmer Courtney Shealy • Head Games: U.S. hurdler Terrence Trammell Multimedia • Shots of the Day: Young Americans • Shots of the Day: Shots of the Day

She's not in Sydney because she wrote a frank book, The Underside of Women's Tennis, in which she ripped certain pooh-bahs in her country's tennis federation. They reacted with enough huffiness to cause a blizzard of dandruff to fall from the epaulettes of their blazers. When these wise men failed to name her to the French team, Tauziat pressed a court case to win a place in the Games, to no avail.

The second seed in Luxembourg is even more interesting. She's Anna Kournikova, whom Tauziat also skewered in her book for being all fluff and no substance. For all the endorsement and Internet activity conducted in her name, Kournikova has yet to win a tournament. Regardless of how weak the Luxembourg field is, she could make gold-medal news by finally winning something. Certainly a victory in the Grand Duchy -- especially over her Gallic critic -- would do more for women's tennis than anything that might transpire at this desultory Olympic event.

Half volleys

Venus and Serena Williams moved into Thursday's women's doubles gold medal match by surviving a quirky challenge from Belgium's Dominique Van Roost and Els Callens, who refused to approach the net and become clay pigeons for the Americans. . . . The latest evidence that players are treating the Olympics as just another stop on the Tour: After losing to Venus in the semifinals, U.S. teammate Monica Seles didn't realize that she would be playing another match, for the bronze. It took a phone call from buddy Mary Joe Fernandez to get Seles ready for the match, in which she needed less than an hour to dispatch hometown favorite Jelena Dokic and bag a medal.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Alexander Wolff is in Sydney covering the Games for the magazine and CNNSI.com. Check back daily to read Wolff's behind-the-scenes reports from Down Under.

 

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