Giant-killer Blake loses to Gonzalez in Olympic tennis

BEIJING – First-time Olympian James Blake, who beat top-seeded Roger Federe in the quarterfinals, has come up one point short in his bid to reach the Olympic finals losing to Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 4-6, 7-5, 11-9. Blake had three match points with Gonzalez serving at 5-6 in the final set. But the Chilean hit four consecutive winners to hold, and on his fifth match point in the final game, he smacked a serve that Blake hit into the net. The last hope for a US medal in singles, Blake still has a shot at the bronze. The first-time Olympian scored a 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Federer to end the Swiss’ bid to win an Olympic gold medal. The No. 12-seeded Gonzalez will play in Sunday's final against the winner of the later match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Four years ago in Athens, Gonzalez won the doubles with Nicolas Massu for Chile's first gold medal in any sport. – AP