Venus Williams has forgotten what it feels like to lose and she has no intention of being reminded during the Olympic tennis tournament.

The 20-year-old American goes into the tournament, which starts on Tuesday, on the crest of a 26-match winning wave.

And it seems destined to sweep her to a gold medal she can place alongside the Wimbledon and US Open trophies she has already won this year.

A second gold also looks on the cards when she teams up with sister Serena - her predecessor as US Open champion - in the doubles.

Having apparently conquered the mental doubts that had, before this year, prevented her fulfilling her enormous potential, Williams is unbeaten since the French Open quarter-finals back in June.

The change, she says, is all down to a tougher, more determined approach.

"It's all about attitude - new Millennium, new attitude," she said.

As someone with a refreshing reluctance to hide behind false modesty, she does not contest the fact that she is one of the strongest favourites in any event in the Games.

"I'm feeling good," she said. "I've not lost in a little while - and I don't want to be reminded what that's like."

The Games are likely to be the last tennis Williams plays for a while. She is due back at college in Florida on October 11 to continue her fashion studies.

With world number one Martina Hingis opting not to come to Sydney, Williams' main threat is likely to come from her American teammate Lindsay Davenport, the winner of the singles gold in Atlanta four years ago.

With Monica Seles also in the draw, a US sweep of gold, silver and bronze is a realistic possibility in an event that has been won by an American in the two previous Games - Jennifer Capriati triumphed in 1992 in Barcelona.

Davenport, who rates her triumph in Atlanta even above her Grand Slam victories, will have to bounce back from the disappointment of her US Open final defeat to Williams, where she squandered a 4-1 first set lead. She faces Argentina's Paola Suarez in the first round.

Among the handful of players capable of putting up any resistance to the top two is Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, the last player to beat Venus Williams.

Playing in her fourth Games, the newly-married Spaniard has twice been an Olympic bridesmaid, winning bronze in Barcelona and silver in Atlanta.

If she is to complete the set with a gold here she will probably have to get past Williams at the quarter-final stage.

Sanchez-Vicario has taken her preparations seriously, getting here a week early and pounding the practice courts every day, displaying the appetite for work that has been central to her success over the years.

"I'm enjoying myself more than ever," she said. "When you are not one of the favourites you have less pressure but I still think I have a chance and I will give it my best shot."

Among the pick of the first round clashes is the meeting of Asia's top player, Ai Sugiyama of Japan, and Jelena Dokic, the talented Australian whose father Damir has just been banned from the women's tour after another incident of rowdy behaviour at the US Open.

Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn faces the daunting prospect of a second-round clash with Williams, provided she can get past Slovenia's Tina Pisnik in the first.

AFP