Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev met yesterday with Russian national tennis team and their captain Shamil Tarpischev in Kremlin. This year’s Beijing Olympics champion Elena Dementieva has given her Olympic “gold” racket to President Medvedev as a gift. Would you give your Olympic racket to your President?

Elena Vesnina blogs about the experience.  According to her, all the players were very nervous initially but thanks to Marat Safin who told a couple of jokes to break the ice, they relaxed and greatly enjoyed the experience. They drank some tea, and the President thanked them for all their achievements.

Dinara Safina looks gorgeous. I am not saying anything about her brother

Dementieva thinking: “Just don’t sell it on Ebay, please.”

Medvedev thinking: “What the hell is this?”

In an interview with a Russian sport site, Olympics gold medal winner Elena Dementieva talks about getting an Olympic tattoo, dedicating the victory to her mother, and celebration her major win with friends and relatives in Moscow. Read the full Google-translated interview here.

Russian women tennis players made a history today in Beijing by sweeping medals in women’s singles. The victory made Russia the first nation to win all medals in one tennis event since Britain did a hundred years ago in women’s singles. Elena Dementieva won the gold medal in women’s singles by beating fellow Russian Dinara Safina 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Vera Zvonareva beat Li Na of China 6-0, 7-5 to win the bronze.

I loved this photo of Fernando Gonzalez at the Olympics Opening Ceremonies. More Olympics photos are here.

After a long break Argentine David Nalbandian is set to play in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.  He is seeded #7 and his first opponent is  Zeng Shaoxuan of China.  He is also scheduled to play doubles with Guillermo Canas. However, it is still somewhat unclear if David has managed to recover from his injuries.

The  No 3-ranked Maria Sharapova has announced on her site that she is pulling out of the Beijing Olympics and the US Open because of her injured right shoulder.

“It hurts me so much to miss the Olympics and the U.S. Open, you have no idea,” she said. “Just to type those words hurt!!” Sharapova said she would go to Arizona to work with a specialist for rehabilitation and strength work. She hopes to be ready  to play again in  two to three months.

This must be really hard for her–especially missing the Olympics. My impression was that she really, really wanted to play for Russia in Beijing. It could also greatly contribute to her image promotion in the world.

AP has a story about how athletes are struggling on what position to take about the upcoming Beijing Olympics controversy.

Here is what some top tennis stars are thinking.

Roger Federer

Asked if he would wear a ribbon for Tibet or boycott the opening ceremony, top-ranked tennis star Roger Federer said: “No, not so far. I don’t think I will.”

“Honestly, I don’t know enough about the situation. I don’t know how much we athletes should be involved in this,” said Federer, of Switzerland. “It should be a celebration of sport and not using it for political reasons.”

C’mon Roger. You traveled the world. You pride yourself on being an open-minded person who enjoys learning about other cultures. Now all of a sudden you become modest about your knowledge on these issues.

James Blake

Fellow player James Blake believes any protest should not be an individual call.

“I don’t feel like it’s my decision to go and say, ‘I know what’s best for the entire country of China, I know what’s best for the entire Olympic team,’” the American said. “I think it should be a joint decision, kind of all-for-one decision, whether every Olympic team boycotts or we all go and we represent our country with pride.”

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