updated 12:38 p.m. ET Aug. 22, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - It was probably the longest, and certainly the most satisfying, day of Fernando Gonzalez’s tennis career.

He played 90 games over eight sets covering two matches lasting a total of 7 hours, 8 minutes. He punched in at 5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 hours later was clutching Chile’s first gold medal in Olympic history.

Oh, and he won a bronze, too.

First, Gonzalez outlasted Taylor Dent of the United States 6-4, 2-6, 16-14 in the singles bronze medal match. Then he got a chance to rest while Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium beat Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-3, 6-3 for the women’s singles gold, and that medal ceremony bought him some extra time.

Still, he only had about 2½ hours to recover before taking to center court again, this time with Nicolas Massu for the men’s doubles final. They beat Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler of Germany 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, the final point coming at 2:39 a.m.

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“What a day for Chile. What a tremendous amount of emotions in one day,” Gonzalez said. “At the beginning of the (doubles) match, I was very tired, and I’m still tired. It was difficult to move.”

At least he gets Sunday off. Massu, however, will play Mardy Fish of the United States for the men’s singles gold.

“That will be difficult. I have to go to doping control, get a massage, then try to sleep, which won’t be easy, because of the adrenaline,” Massu said. “It’s going to be complicated.”

Not surprisingly, Gonzalez was treated by a trainer for pain in his left hamstring and knee after the third set of the doubles match. Later, he would take a few extra seconds here and there between points to stretch that leg.

Gonzalez and Massu had never won a doubles title as pros — either together or with other partners. Their previous career highlight might very well have been winning the U.S. Open junior doubles title in 1997.

Gonzalez has only twice been as far as the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament, and all four of his career singles titles came on clay; the Olympic tennis facility has hard courts.

They certainly will become heroes in Chile, which never had won a tennis medal and owned a total of nine Olympic medals from all sports before this weekend. Plus, the country lost what was until now its best tennis player, former No. 1 Marcelo Rios, to retirement last month.

Gonzalez and Massu saved the match points in the fourth-set tiebreaker, then rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the final set.

They broke Kiefer to go ahead 5-4 — the seventh time one team or the other lost serve in the final set — and Gonzalez held serve to end the match. The Chileans needed three match points to clinch it, a fittingly drawn-out close to Gonzalez’s day.

When the match ended, they flung their rackets and collapsed in a heap on the court, hugging.

“Chile must be enthralled. Chile really needs this, needs happiness,” Massu said. “People there have problems.”

How new is all this to Gonzalez, Massu and Chile?

During the doubles medal ceremony, they were chatting, and didn’t hear their names announced — the cue to step up to the top step of the podium to receive their wreaths, flower bouquets and, most importantly, gold medals.

So bronze medalist Ivan Ljubicic turned to them and nodded his head in their direction, then toward the podium, as if to say, “Hey, guys, it’s your turn.”

In the singles bronze medal match, Gonzalez saved two match points before winning and swatting a tennis ball into the stands, a souvenir of thanks to fans chanting, “Chi-ch-chi, le-le-le, Chi-le!”

“I can’t believe I lost,” Dent said. “It was longest match I’ve played in terms of a set. It was 16-14, is that it? It was a good match. It was a shame I lost, but it was fun to be a part of.”

The men’s final Sunday is also a Chile vs. United States matchup: No. 10 Nicolas Massu against unseeded Mardy Fish, the only American tennis player who’ll leave Athens with a medal.

The 16th-seeded Gonzalez, who knocked off No. 2 Andy Roddick in the third round, finally got the upper hand against the unseeded Dent by breaking to 15-14 with a backhand passing shot.

The American helped set up the break point with three miscues: an overhead into the net, a half-volley he pushed long and a volley error.

Early in the final set, Gonzalez broke for a 3-2 edge and wasted a match point on Dent’s serve at 5-3, sending a backhand long. Then, serving for the match at 5-4, the Chilean double-faulted twice in a row to give Dent a break point, then missed a backhand to make it 5-all.

Neither player managed to earn another break point until Dent had his only match points while leading 14-13. But he wasted the first with a backhand return that landed wide, and Gonzalez saved the second with a forehand winner.

Gonzalez, never past the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament, broke in the next game.

The match began in afternoon heat and ended at dusk, shadows covering the court.

As the match crept past the three-hour mark, and the number of third-set games rose above 25, both players appeared content to catch their breath now and then. Aces became more frequent, and from 12-12 to 14-13, there were three straight games at love.

Gonzalez sat with his legs crossed at changeovers, as though in a doctor’s waiting room, none too eager to hear his named called.

The Chilean would take every last moment of rest before heading back out on court after a break, never venturing from his chair until the chair umpire said, “Time.” Dent was less relaxed, hopping out his chair 30 seconds or so early and bouncing on the balls of his feet at the baseline.

In the women's bronze-medal match, Alicia Molik of Australia beat No. 3 Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-3, 6-4.

Molik broke the French Open champion for a 5-4 lead in the second set, then served it out for Australia’s first singles tennis medal. The country won medals five times previously in doubles.

“Today was a pretty special moment, because if I came out and lost, I wouldn’t have anything to remember the Olympics by,” Molik said. “My bronze will be something I cherish for the rest of my life.”

In the women’s doubles bronze match, No. 7 Paola Suarez and Patricia Tarabini gave Argentina its first Olympic tennis medal since 1992 by beating No. 5 Shinobu Asagoe and Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-3, 6-3.

The gold medal will be decided Sunday, when No. 2 Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain face No. 8 Li Ting and Sun Tian Tian of China.

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