Sydney, September 28: Former World No 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov outlasted Germany's Tommy Haas in a marathon Olympic final to claim the men's singles gold medal for Russia here on Thursday. After a see-saw, sometimes scrappy, battle that lasted three hours, 35 minutes, Kafelnikov finally triumphed 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Arnaud de Pasquale of France took the bronze.Haas, 22, went into the final set looking the more likely winner but just as victory looked within his grasp, he stumbled. Two unforced errors in the eighth game of the final set handing Kafelnikov the chance to serve out for the match.The big Russian, who had failed to reproduce the blistering form he displayed enroute to the final, made no mistake, powerfully killing off the match to secure an Olympic gold medal he has said will mean more to him and his country than his 1996 French Open and 1999 Australian Open titles.Kafelnikov's win completes a fantastic month for Russian tennis after Marat Safin's triumph in the US Open.It also marks a remarkable renaissance for Kafelnikov who had arrived in Sydney in total despair about his form after failing to win a singles title all year a remarkable statistic for a player who plays more tournaments than almost any other top player and has won at least three titles every year since 1994.Haas was left to rue what might have been if he had taken the numerous opportunities he had in a cagey one hour, 10 minute first set in which both players had their service broken twice. The German was the first to break serve in the fifth game of the match. But he squandered the advantage in the very next game by blasting a simple forehand long with the court at his mercy.He then had another golden opportunity when he took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak but Kafelnikov produced the big shots when he needed them to edge the set.Double For VenusSYDNEY: Venus Williams claimed her second gold of the Sydney Olympics when she teamed up with younger sister Serena to sweep aside their Dutch opponents in the final of the women's doubles here on Thursday.The Williams overpowered Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans 6-1, 6-1 to finish the tournament without having dropped a single set.Venus beat Russia's Elena Dementieva on Wednesday to win the singles gold. The bronze went to Els Callens and Dominique Van Roost of Belgium.
