The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics have proven to be disastrous for the big names in the tennis world. The latest sensational loss by a leading tennis player was the August 14 defeat of Venus Williams by China's Li Na in the women's singles quarterfinal.

The hosts' representative took a clean victory over the favourite in two straight sets 7-5, 7-5. 

The current Wimbledon champion was considered a strong pretender for the gold at Beijing but was denied by the superb play of Li Na who is currently ranked 43th in the world.

As Williams herself was quoted as saying by world media after the game, “Li Na played the game of her life against me”, a clear recognition of Li Na's performance.

Now all that Venus can hope for is to play well in the doubles, where she will have her sister Serena as a partner. This will be the two sisters' only chance to win a medal at the games, since Serena is out of the singles as well, having been defeated by Russia's Elena Dementieva 3–6, 6–4, 6–3.

The only good news for the Americans was the James Blake's win against none other but Roger Federer in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the men's tennis singles tournament. The win was even more surprising for the fact that Blake has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal in his career.

Now Blake remains the only American with clear chances for the gold. Unlike Federer, who has never won a gold Olympic medal. He came fourth in Sydney in 2000 and lost at the quarterfinals stage in Athens four years later.

The same as the Williams sisters, however, Federer still has chances for a medal at the doubles. His partner is Stanislas Wawrinka.