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  • Olympics round 2: Roger Federer vs Rafael Arevalo

    8/12/08 1:37 AM | David Cox
    - This could be one of the biggest mis-matches in the whole tournament, the sort of match-up which could only happen in the Olympics. Roger Federer, world No. 1 vs. Rafael Arevalo, No. 447. It's almost like Michael Phelps versus “Eric the Eel.”

    Credit to Arevalo, a 22-year-old from El Salvador, for doing phenomenally well to make it this far, beating Korean veteran Hyung-Taik Lee (who's been a top 50 regular) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

    How he even got the chance to develop a game good enough for pro tennis in El Salvador is a mystery. It's hardly a hotbed of racket-wielding superstars. Whether he'll ever make the top 100 or even top 200 remains to be seen; for most, reaching the heights of men's tennis is a long, arduous process. Whatever happens, Tuesday's meeting with Federer in the massive showpiece stadium should be a moment he'll remember for a long time.

    Just last month Arevalo lost in the first round of a small German tournament to a player named Lars Poerschke who's not even in the top 1000. It's a whole world apart.

    Meanwhile, Tomas Berdych faces quite a challenge against Italy's Andreas Seppi, who defeated Tommy Robredo in a three-set marathon that went to 8-6 in the third. Expect it to be close again, but Berdych to progress in straights.

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Comments

MC82, it's time for you to get a life. Yours is a tired act.

The writer said nothing bad about El Salvador or the people of El Salvador. He simply admitted the facts about the tennis situation in that country.

Click this link and you will realize why the "how he even got a chance to develop his game good enough for pro tennis" is spot on: http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/rankings/entrysystem/default.asp?showall =1&RankDate=9%2F8%2F2008&country=El+Salvador&rank=0&image1.x=2&image1. y=8

Dynasty , 9/10/08 5:11 PM



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