American women have dominated Olympic tennis since it regained its status as a medal sport in 1988, winning all but one of eight gold medals in singles and doubles. Jennifer Capriati toppled defending gold-medalist Steffi Graf in the 1992 singles final. Lindsay Davenport rolled to a win in 1996. Four years ago, Venus Williams took the singles tournament, and she and her sister Serena dropped just two games in the doubles final.

Until a few days ago, chances were good that the American women would extend their nearly flawless run through Athens. Now, though, the team will have to overcome the last-minute departures of Serena Williams and Capriati, who this week pulled out of the tournament with injuries.

Capriati has been hobbled by a hamstring strain that forced her out of another tournament this summer, and Williams was told by a noted New York doctor Wednesday that her surgically repaired knee needed rest and rehabilitation or she would risk long-term damage.

Because the withdrawals were so late, the U.S. team could not replace its stars with new players. Lisa Raymond, who is playing doubles with Martina Navratilova, took Capriati’s spot in the singles draw, and Williams’s place was awarded to Samantha Stosur of Australia, the next-highest ranked player on site. Chanda Rubin, already playing singles, will team with Venus Williams in doubles.

Venus, seeded sixth and recovering from a recent wrist injury, is America’s best chance for a fourth straight gold in women’s singles, but her road to victory won’t be easy. She could face ninth seed Nadia Petrova in the third round and then, in the quarterfinals, top seed Justin Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, who has been kept off the court by a viral infection since her second-round loss at the French Open. From there, Venus could face French Open champion Anastasia Myskina of Russia in the semifinals.

At the other end of the draw sits France’s Amelie Mauresmo, the second seed – and perhaps the favorite after her impressive run to a title last week in Montreal.She would have to get by Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva,a silver medalist at the 2000 Olympics, who beat Mauresmo in the quarterfinals at this year’s French Open. She’ll also have to keep her mind off sev eral heartbreaking losses that have denied her a Grand Slam title. After years of falling just a little bit short, a gold medal would certainly be a boost of confidence.

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In the men’s field, world no. 1 Roger Federer might meet Andy Roddick in what could be their third spectacular match of the summer. Federer won the first two, at the Wimbledon final and on hard courts in Toronto, giving him three straight tour wins on three different surfaces. Federer, who lost in the bronze-medal match four years ago, has an easier draw in Athens than Roddick, though he might face long-time nemesis David Nalbandian of Argentina in the quarterfinals.

Roddick, seeded second, has said that if he could win just one tournament this year, it would be the Olympics. To have his way, he’ll have to plow through several top players just to reach the final.

In the second round, there’s Tommy Haas of Germany, a silver-medalist in Sydney who is healthy again and having a strong summer. Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and Sebastien Grosjean of France lurk in the next two rounds. If the seeds hold through to the semifinals, Roddick would face Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

The remaining American singles players had less luck with the draw. Mardy Fish will take on the steady veteran Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in the first round, while Taylor Dent will ply his serve-and-volley trade against Nalbandian, seeded sixth. Vince Spadea fared better, drawing Jurgen Melzer of Austria, who is not seeded.

In doubles, Roddick and his teammate Fish could not have done much worse, drawing the top-flight team of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India, seeded fifth, as first-round opponents. For the women,Williams and Rubin are unseeded and will play in the shadow of third seeds Lisa Raymond and 47-year-old Martina Navratilova, who is in search of her first Olympic medal to go along with 341 career titles in singles and doubles.

If you want to watch Olympic tennis, tune into Bravo weeknights starting at 5 p.m. for coverage. USA Network will broadcast the women’s singles final live at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 21. The men’s final, which will be three of five sets rather than two of three, will air live at 10 a.m. on USA on Sunday, August 22.