Olympics: Canadian Team
Dancevic, Niemeyer added to Olympic singles draw
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 | 10:29 AM ET
Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., seen at Wimbledon, will compete at the Beijing Games. (Alastair Grant/Associated Press)
Canadian tennis players Frank Dancevic and Frederic Niemeyer on Wednesday were added to the Olympic men's tennis draw.
Dancevic, of Niagara Falls, Ont., and Niemeyer, of Sherbrooke, Que., who was already in the doubles competition, made the draw because other players pulled out.
Niemeyer will fill the spot vacated by Mario Ancic of Croatia. Ancic has mononucleosis and will also miss the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 25.
Niemeyer is an Olympic medal contender in doubles play, with Daniel Nestor of Toronto as his partner. Nestor partnered with Sebastien Lareau to win gold at the 2000 Games.
Dancevic, who has been ranked as high as 65th in the world in the past year, will replace Denis Gremelmayr of Germany.
The six-foot-three Canadian has been known to make some noise on the hardcourts, having beaten the likes of Andy Roddick and Fernando Verdasco, while playing well against top players Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
There are 64 players in the singles draw for both the men and women. The tournament gets underway Sunday, with the gold-medal matches Aug. 17.
Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic were also added to the Olympic singles draw, which could feature the first meeting of Nadal and Roger Federer of Switzerland since their classic WImbledon final last month.
Vera Zvonareva of Russia and Jill Craybas of the United States are now in the women's draw. They replaced Maria Sharapova and Tamira Paszek of Austria, respectively.
Sharapova, the No. 3 player in the world, pulled out of the Rogers Cup last week in Montreal due to a shoulder injury. She will also miss the U.S. Open, which she has won before.
The International Tennis Federation's Olympic committee determines the players in the draw based on on the men's and women's tour rankings.
First round matchups will be determined on Thursday.
With files from the Associated Press
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