Marriage makes for bliss

Sydney, September 12: Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario is gearing up to join the exclusive club of athletes who have competed in four Olympics and the irrepressible Spaniard is not ruling out making it five at Athens 2004. At 28 and newly-married, the former world number one says she is enjoying her tennis more than ever and is determined to squeeze every last bit of pleasure out of the years she has left on the tour. quot;They have been retiring me for the last four years but here I am still playing,quot; she said with a smile Tuesday after a typically intense practice session at the Olympic tennis centre. quot;I8217;m still enjoying it and I8217;m still winning tournaments, so I don8217;t think there is any reason why I should think about retiring. quot;I got married to journalist Joan Vehils in July and I am very happy with my life outside the courts. When you have that balance it is easy to be motivated to go out and play.quot; The thought of carrying on until Athens has, she admits, entered her head. With her new husband also on Olympic dutyin Sydney, Sanchez-Vicario has decided not to rub shoulders with other athletes in the village 8211; as she has in the past 8211; preferring instead to install her parents and brothers in a rented house in the Sydney suburbs. quot;It is very nice and relaxing to have my whole family here,quot; she said. quot;If you want to do well it is kind of hard to concentrate and be in the Olympic village.quot;

Sanchez-Vicario made her Olympic debut in Seoul as a chubby 16-year-old, a year before she stunned the tennis world by beating Steffi Graf in a memorable French Open final. In Barcelona in 1992, she took the bronze in the singles and a silver in the doubles with compatriot Conchita Martinez.

At Atlanta, she took silver in the singles and teamed up again with Martinez for bronze in the doubles. A gold in both events here would make a very nice set 8211; but Sanchez-Vicario says a medal of any hue in either singles or doubles would send her home happy. AFP