Top seeded Roger Federer could meet Britain’s Andy Murray in the Olympic tennis final in a repeat of Wimbledon earlier this month, after the pair were drawn on opposite sides of the competition.
Third seed Murray will take on Federer’s fellow-Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in his opening match. Federer, the top seed and world number one, will play Colombia’s Alejandro Falla while Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, seeded two, will face Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
Federer is leaning toward competing in the 2016 Games if his body holds up. Federer, who turns 31 on Aug. 8, said his mindset includes Rio de Janeiro, but it will depend on his ability to stay healthy.
Women’s top seed Belarusian Victoria Azarenka will play Romanian world No. 79 Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round when the competition kicks off. America’s Serena Williams, fresh from her fifth Wimbledon title, takes on former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.
GYMNASTICS: Romania’s chances of challenging the United States for the gold medal in women’s gymnastics have been hurt by an injury to Larisa Iordache.
Iordache, who led Romania to a surprise title at the European championships this spring, developed plantar fasciitis in her left heel two days ago, and coach Mariana Bitang says she has a “50 percent chance” of doing all four events at the London Olympics.
Asked what that would mean for Romania’s gold medal hopes, Bitang said it would be “difficult. She was the most important piece of the team.”
The women’s competition begins Sunday with qualifying.
SOCCER: In Cardiff, Wales, gold-medal favorite Brazil scored three first-half goals then held on for a 3-2 win over Egypt in its opening Group C match of the men’s Olympic tournament.
Rafael opened the scoring in the 16th minute, Leandro Damiao added another in the 26th and Neymar scored in the 30th to give Brazil a comfortable halftime lead before Egypt made it interesting with goals by captain Mohamed Aboutrika in the 52nd and substitute Mohamed Salah in the 76th.
Brazil was able to control the rest of the game and held on for the victory, staying on track for its first gold in Olympic soccer.
In Glasgow, Scotland, Japan produced a major shock in men’s play, beating medal favorite Spain 1-0.
Japan forward Yuki Otsu broke away from his marker during a corner in the 34th minute and the ball landed right at his feet for a simple tap-in past Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea. Spain, reduced to 10 men a few minutes after the goal, never managed to get back into the game.
WEIGHTLIFTING: Kazakhstan is trying to replace two of its Chinese-born male Olympic weightlifters, possibly because of citizenship issues. The two are Arli Chontei in the 56-kilogram category and Farkhad Kharki in the 62-kilogram class.
International Weightlifting Federation spokeswoman Aniko Nemeth-Mora said Kazakhstan is citing medical reasons. However, Kazakh weightlifting official Mendikhan Tapsiruly told the AP “this is most likely to do with the fact they were granted citizenship recently.”
JUDO: The International Judo Federation says one of Saudi Arabia’s first female athletes selected for the Olympics will not be allowed to wear a headscarf during competition.
Federation president Marius Vizer announced Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani could not fight with a headscarf, saying the move was “according to the principles and spirit of judo.” IJF spokesman Nicolas Messner said it was also due to safety concerns.
