Beijing Olympic Games

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By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP)—It was 1:15 a.m. at the Olympic Tennis Centre, and top-ranked Jelena Jankovic sprawled out across her changeover chair and closed her eyes to catch some rest.

That can be hard to do at an event that has become an Olympic marathon.

The mixture of rain, long matches and a heavy schedule has kept players— and hardy spectators—at the venue until the wee hours.

On Friday morning, a weary Jankovic settled into her courtside when rain started falling as she was about to begin warming up for a match. Fifteen minutes later, the tournament called it a night—or morning.

The Friday night session went even later, in part because all four center-court matches were three-setters.

A couple thousand fans stayed until 3:35 a.m. Saturday, their flag-waving chants drowning out the sound of crickets outside the stadium, as Yan Zi and Zheng Jie of China beat Svetlana Kuzn