MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee's two Olympians - tennis player Fred Niemeyer and baseball player Tjerk Smeets - begin competition in the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, China, in the coming days, with Neimeyer taking part in singles and doubles for his native Canada and Smeets a member of his native Netherlands baseball club.
Niemeyer was set to play doubles with Daniel Nestor, the No. 1 doubles player in the world. Niemeyer was then accepted into the singles draw on Thursday and will face Argentine's Guillermo Canas in the first round.
Canas is a former Top 10 player who has had a rough year so far, falling to No. 64 in the rankings. Beijing will be his first Olympic experience, whereas Niemeyer competed in both singles and doubles at the 2004 Games in Athens.
Niemeyer and Nestor are unseeded in the doubles draw and will face Great Britain's Andy and Jamie Murray to start things off. Nestor and Niemeyer have competed in numerous Davis Cup ties together for Canada, compiling a 10-1 record.
The Olympic tennis event is set to begin on Sunday with the first day's order of play to be released on Saturday.
Smeets, who played baseball for the Blue Raiders from 1999-01, will be competing in his first Olympics for the Netherlands, who begin play on Wednesday versus Chinese Taipei. The Netherlands will also face the United States, Japan, China, Cuba and Canada in the preliminary rounds. Semifinals for the baseball competition are Friday, August 22, with the gold and bronze medal contests on Saturday, August 23.
Olympic Baseball Preliminary Round Schedule
Wednesday, August 13
Netherlands vs. Chinese Taipei, 10:30 AM
Thursday, August 14
Netherlands vs. United States, 10:30 AM
Friday, August 15
Netherlands vs. Japan, 7 PM
Saturday, August 16
Netherlands vs. China, 6 PM
Monday, August 18
Netherlands vs. Cuba, 6 PM
Tuesday, August 19
Netherlands vs. Canada, 10:30 AM
All dates and game times are Beijing time
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