RIO DE JANEIRO -- If the golf swing required less technique and more rhythm -- like samba dancing, say -- the sport would no doubt be monopolized by Brazilians. Instead, after watching a dozen or so novices take their first lesson, its barely an exaggeration to say the instruction begins with which end of the club to grip.Golf and other sports at the Rio Olympics are offering Fan Zones that give the chance to train like an Olympian. For the price of an event ticket, spectators can practice boxing, riding, fencing, rowing and other sports at zones set up just outside the field of play and usually with an instructor nearby. For obvious reasons, shooting is the rare venue without one.The zones, for the most part, aim to popularize Olympic sports to a futebol-mad nation of 200 million people.In the case of golf, where the games roots are old but not deep, the interactive teaching and recreational center at the Olympic Golf Course is run with the assistance of the Brazilian Golf Federation, which has also launched a program Golf Para Vida (Golf For Life) hoping to introduce schoolkids to the game during the two weeks of the tournament.Marcello do Nascimento, a Rio native who got his start as a caddie at one of the citys two private clubs and is now one of 250 teaching pros in the country, estimated hed given roughly 700 lessons during the first three days of the mens competition.On either side of him, three hitting bays with artificial-turf mats and netting, as well as a miniature golf course are swarmed with kids and their parents. Off to one side, at least 10 people wait in line to take a shot at video simulators that measure longest drive and closest shot to the pin.About 200 people had some familiarity with the game before, do Nacimento said through a translator. But perhaps 80 have taken my card already and many of them have inquired about where they can buy clubs.By that measure, Artur Nunes is a promising student. The 12-year-old from Rio plays tennis, so at least hes had some practice whacking a ball in space, and he took his first lesson when the family was on vacation. Even so, do Nascimento begins with the basics, emphasizing the proper grip and stance.Artur pays close attention, but lets on a moment later that the thing he likes most about golf is how far -- on those few occasions when he hits it flush -- the ball travels.His mother, Claudia, on the other hand, views the game more practically. She works in the human resources of a Rio-based company and thinks learning the game would help Artur in the future.Here, its still a game for the elite, but it can also be an opportunity to meet people, she said. The more it becomes available to the public, the more I believe people will take it up.About 25,000 Brazilians play at least one round a year on the countrys 125 courses and 10,000 golfers have registered handicaps. There are 125 golf courses spread across the country, but currently not even one public layout in the Rio metropolitan area. After the games, the Olympic course will be handed over to the city for 20 years, with up to 100 youngsters allowed on the course each day. San Francisco 49ers Gear . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. 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NEW YORK -- Serena Williams is starting to feel a little better. Novak Djokovic is getting there.The U.S. Opens top seeds in both singles brackets are coming off injuries, and neither has played since an early loss at the Olympics. Friday was the first time either had discussed the health problems that stymied them in Rio de Janeiro and forced them to withdraw from the hard-court warmup at Cincinnati.For Williams, its a sore right shoulder that she revealed started bothering her almost immediately after her Wimbledon victory. She said she practiced for just two days before the Olympics and has spent little time on court since as she undergoes physical therapy.For Djokovic, its a sore left wrist that he revealed he hurt in Rio a few days before his first-round Olympic loss to Juan Martin del Potro, a player who knows plenty about how that injury hinders a rightys two-handed backhand.Im just hoping that Monday when the tournament starts Ill be able to get as close to the maximum of executing my backhand shot as possible, said Djokovic, who sounded a bit more optimistic than Williams on Friday.Williams acknowledged shed prefer to have played more coming into the Open -- shes had just three singles matches since Wimbledon -- and needs to practice more.Im just now starting to feel a little better, she said. Hopefully just every day I will keep going higher.It wasnt a physical problem that burdened Djokovic during his third-round Wimbledon loss to 41st-ranked Sam Querrey, he acknowledged. Asked that day if he was 100 percent healthy, the 12-time major champ replied: Not really. But its not the place and time to talk about it.On Friday, Djokovic conceded it was some other things that I was going through privately. He wouldnt elaborate other than to say that now everything is fine.Speaking of left wrist injuries, Rafael Nadal said his keeps getting better but still isnt 100 percent. Because the 14-time Grand Slam champ is a lefty, his issue is the forehand.When he first came back, he recalled, you try to find movements to avoid the pain. Now he can start to hit his normal forehand again, but it still needs time to feel that I am more confident in my wrist.Both Djokovic and Williams face a former Grand Slam semifinalist in the first round.dddddddddddd Williams opens her bid for a record-breaking 23rd major title against Ekaterina Makarova, whos coming off an Olympic doubles gold medal.The Russian made two straight major semis -- at the 2014 U.S. Open, losing to Williams 6-1, 6-3, and the 2015 Australian Open. With her ranking slipping to 36th, she just missed a seed at Flushing Meadows.Doing an interview shortly after the draw was set, Djokovic joked he wasnt mentally ready to see his bracket quite yet and wanted to wait until Im alone. What hell see is a meeting with Jerzy Janowicz, a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist whos been ranked as high as 14th. After struggling in recent years and missing much of this season because of injuries, Janowicz is No. 228 in the world and used a protected ranking to get into the U.S. Open.Nadal is a potential semifinal opponent for Djokovic, the defending champ, while Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka are in the other half of the bracket.Williams could face fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis, which is also when she could potentially meet sister Venus. Australian Open champ Angelique Kerber and French Open winner Garbine Muguruza are on the other side of the draw.Earlier in the tournament, Williams could run into opponents who have eliminated her at past majors. In the third round, she could meet Ana Ivanovic, who beat her at the 2014 Australian Open. And in the fourth round, she could face Sam Stosur, who stunned her in the 2011 U.S. Open final.Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champ, is ranked just 142nd after three left wrist surgeries. Last week, Steve Johnson, the highest-ranked U.S. mens player, questioned whether the U.S. Tennis Association should award del Potro the wild card hed need to get in because the Argentine could possibly defeat an American in the first round. That scenario wont occur -- del Petro meets countryman Diego Schwartzman in his opener. But the 19th-seeded Johnson could face the Olympic silver medalist in the second round.Between Wimbledon and the Rio Games, del Potro defeated three of the U.S. Opens top four seeds. ' ' '