It’s not blood lust or a taste for all night outings that motivate him, but a trace of Transylvanian tradition that comes to tennis in the form of Nicolas Massu, nicknamed “Vampiro” for his affinity for vampires. The winner of six career ATP singles titles including Buenos Aires, Amersfoort, Palermo, Kitzbuhel, Athens and Costa do Sauipe, Massu reached career high ATP singles ranking of No. 9 in 2004. Massu became a Chilean national hero when he swept Gold Medals in singles and doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Massu and Gonzalez captured Chile’s first gold medal in the 108-year history of the modern Olympic Games with a 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 triumph over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler in a taxing five-set match that ended at 2:30 a.m.. In a memorable climax to that match, the Chileans engaged in an emotional embrace and crashed to the court together. Gonzalez and Massu had cause for celebration. The pair fought off four match points trailing 2-6 in the fourth-set tiebreak then rallied from a 1-3 deficit in the decisive set by winning five of the final six games to seize one of their nation’s greatest sports victories in a three hour, 43-minute that offered tense, tenacious — and at times tremendous — tennis. Massu concluded that match collapsing on the court in Gonzalez’s arms in an emotional embrace and returned the next day to make another five-set stand and beat American Mardy Fish to strike gold in singles. In a stunning span of 24 hours in Athens, Massu captured consecutive gold medals for his country, roaring back to earn a 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Fish and the respect of all who watched as he completed an astounding sweep of both singles and doubles gold medals. “What he achieved back in Athens winning singles and doubles, it’s never going to happen again, you know,” World No. 1 Roger Federer said. Scoop Malinowski, whose Olympic experience was confined to teenage backyard boxing matches that saw him play the roles of both former U.S. Olympic boxers Michael and Leon Spinks (unlike Leon, Scoop has retained his front teeth despite his affinity for the sweet science), caught up with Massu recently for this Biofile interview.

Height/Weight: 6-feet, 177 pounds.

 Born On: October 10, 1979 in Vina del Mar, Chile.

Childhood Hero: “Rocky the movie [smiles].”

 Tennis Inspirations: “When I start when I was younger — Boris Becker and Muster. Those were my two.”

Hobbies/Leisure Activities: “I like to play soccer. To be with my friends, go out with my friends.”

Nicknames: Nico, Vampiro.

Favorite Movies: “Gladiator.”

Favorite TV Show: “The Simpsons is my favorite.”

Musical Tastes: “Spanish music, Ricky Martin.”

Early Tennis Memory: “The first time that I passed the top 100 in 1999. After winning Challenger in Santiago in November ‘99. Was doing good in Challengers, I won three Challengers. Then when I won my first ATP tournament in Buenos Aires (2002), I saved match points (in final against Calleri).”

Pre-Match Feeling: “All are different. Sometimes you’re nervous, sometimes not. Sometimes you are more confident, sometimes without confidence. Normally, a little bit nervous but not too much. Just depends on when I go out on the court to play.”

 Favorite Meal: “Pizza.”

Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Everything.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Vanilla.”

First Job: “Tennis.”

First Car: “‘Chevrolet convertible, black. ‘96, I have it in ‘99.”

 Greatest Sports Moment: “Now I think August 2004, champion of Olympics in singles and doubles. And also carried my countries flag at 2000 Olympics (when Marcelo Rios did not show up).”

 Most Painful Moment: “I think when we lost some important Davis Cup — Zimbabwe, India, Slovakia, Russia, Israel, Croatia. (Massu’s overall Davis Cup record is 29-17 including 17-4 on clay.)”

Funny Tennis Memory: “Just not in singles, when I play doubles I have a lot of good memories.”

Closest Tennis Friends: “Marcelo Rios and Fernando Gonzalez, some Argentine and some Spanish players.”

Funniest Players Encountered: “Fernando Vicente. He’s funny and a good person.”

Toughest Competitors: “Federer, Nadal, Hewitt, Agassi, Ferrero.”

Favorite Vacation Spot: “Cancun.”

Favorite Athletes To Watch: “I think Mike Tyson when he was young. Because I think he was a good competitor. And he was the best in the world. He had a lot of confidence.Michael Jordan. I read one time a book of him, I like it. My favorite soccer team is Everton from Vina del Mar. (Tennis?) I don’t have any one now. You don’t have idols when you play because you play against all these guys. I don’t have idols.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “Good, friendly people. Good person. And respect, you know?”

Tennis Week contributing writer Scoop Malinowski’s latest book Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson-Lewis Championship Battle was called “A smashing success,” by Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward, who called the book “one of the two best boxing books I’ve ever read.” Author Joyce Carol Oates, whose book “On Boxing” is regarded as a classic calls Scoop, “one of the hottest young journalists in pugilism.” He’s recently done Biofiles with Billie Jean King, Asafa Powell, and Olympic gold medalists Carolina Kluft, Oksana Baiul and Tirunesh Dibaba. Please visit his site www.thebiofile.com. Scoop is also a ham and egger tennis player, currently ranked No. 4 in the USTA Eastern 35s and holder of the Tennis Week singles title.

The field features several former World No. 1 players, Grand Slam champions and major finalists in a formidable field that includes Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick, two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, defending champion Juan Martin del Potro, Fernando Gonzalez, Robin Soderling, and Rainer Schuettler.

Tommy Robredo, Israeli Davis Cup hero Dudi Sela, Ivo Karlovic, Mardy Fish and Tomas Berdych are also here as are doubles stars Daniel Nestor, Nenad Zimonjic, Mark Knowles and Mahesh Bhupathi.

Marin Cilic, who clinched Croatia’s first trip to the Davis Cup semifinals in four years with his victory over James Blake on the red clay of Porec last month, was here, but the sixth-seeded rising star went down to qualifier Somdev Devvarman, 7-5, 6-4, on Tuesday afternoon. The match was a rematch of the Chennai final in January, which Cilic won in straight sets. Devvarman, who lives in nearby Virgina and won the NCAA singles title at Virginia, enjoyed solid crowd support from his friends and supporters. He resides in the top quarter of the draw along with top-seeded Andy Roddick and 16th-seeded Sam Querrey, who could square off in the round of 16 tomorrow.

Roddick returns to tournament tennis tonight when he plays Benjamin Becker in his first match since falling to World No. 1 Roger Federer in last month’s epic 77-game Wimbledon final. Big-serving John Isner, who lost to Roddick in the final here two years ago, will play the third-seeded Tsonga in tonight’s second Center Court match.

Lleyton Hewitt edged Donald Young in Monday night’s opener, 7-5, 6-2. If Hewitt beats 15th-seeded Sela today he would face del Potro in a rematch of the Wimbledon second round. Hewitt dismissed del Potro, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5, on the grass courts of the All England Club.

But Young, who has been maligned by media and fans for lackluster results this year was impressive in defeat. Hewitt said the young American “hasn’t reached his full potential yet” and attributed some of the 20-year-old’s struggles this season to growing pains that are part of the transition from junior tennis to the pro circuit.

“He’s very talented and he just hasn’t fulfilled his potential just yet,” Hewitt said of Young. “It’s a big step up from juniors to seniors. He’s lightning quick, gets to a lot of balls, and is starting to get a bigger game out there. He’s just not playing the big points very well just yet.”

Two years ago, Young was the youngest man ranked inside the ATP’s top 100. He finished the 2008 season ranked No. 133. He has kicked around the Challenger circuit and ATP qualifiers this season as his ranking has dropped to No. 162. While the former ITF World No. 1 junior was often physically overmatched in his teenage years, Hewitt said Young is a true talent who must toughen up and learn to play pivotal points better in order to return to the top 100.

Despite some recent poor results on the Challenger circuit, Young looked like he belonged on an ATP show court in prime time. And if he can improve his service percentage (he served only 36 percent against Hewitt, which is obviously a recipe for disaster against one of tennis’ most consistent returners), and generate more consistency on his backhand and volleys, Young is not far removed from top 50 form. While that may sound like a bold prediction given his current ranking, it was supported by one long time tennis expert who also watched the match courtside and praised the Young’s hand and foot speed, but pointed out the Chicago-born lefthander needs better coaching if he is to rise back up the rankings.

Leonardo Mayer from Argentina followed up on his semifinal appearance in Los Angeles with an excellent effort against 33-year-old Rainer Schuettler. Mayer got blown out in set one, 6-1, and looked to be out of his league with the tenacious, muscular German. But Mayer rebounded to win the second and forced a third-set tiebreak. At 5-5 on his own serve in the breaker, Mayer got a ball down the middle and went for the big forehand to the German’s forehand corner but just missed it by about two inches wide. Mayer screamed in agony and went down in defeat on the next point as Schuettler connected on a forehand crosscourt winner. Oliver Marach and Daniel Nestor came out from the locker room to watch the finale of this exciting match.

This is a well-run tournament that draws a lot of the players out of the locker room to watch the matches on the outer courts, though they watch it from behind a windscreen. Sela watched a good portion of his friend Andy Ram partner Max Mirnyi against the venerable team of Knowles and Bhupathi, who both have the hand speed of pick pocket artists at net. In a highly-entertaining match, Bhupathi and Knowles held off Ram and Mirnyi, 7-6(6), 2-6, 10-7.

Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic watched much of his countryman Martin Damm and Sweden’s Robert Linstedt as the pair took down Oliver Marach and Lukasz Kubot, 7-5, 7-5.

Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa watched just about all of that doubles match from behind the wind screen, sitting on the grass. They went on court next without even warming up or stretching. Their coach awkwardly climbed the fence behind the baseline and hooked up a video camera to record the match. But the Brazilian tandem were defeated by Steven “Hussy” Huss and Ross “Rosco” Hutchins 6-1, 6-4.

Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione saved two match points and defeated Bruno Soares and Kevin Ullyet in a very close third set tiebreak, 4-6, 7-5, 12-10. Interestingly, Hewitt still wears his Yonex baseball cap backward for singles but wears in the conventional, forward fashion for doubles. Fierce forehands were on display as Fernando Gonzalez and Tommy Robredo beat wild cards Isner and Querrey, 3-6, 7-6(5), 10-6.

One local media veteran down here, Bob Epstein from Lifestyles Magazine, told me the crowds here are the best ever and the outer courts are packed. He said even during the Agassi era when AA would play here just about every year, tennis fans flocked to see his matches but when Andre was finished, most fans left. But here each match, whether it’s singles or doubles, the courts are packed to near capacity and the tennis has been high quality.

Tennis Week contributing writer Scoop Malinowski is in Washington, DC, attending this week’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Scoop’s latest book Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson-Lewis Championship Battle was called “A smashing success,” by Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward, who called the book “one of the two best boxing books I’ve ever read.” Author Joyce Carol Oates, whose book “On Boxing” is regarded as a classic calls Scoop, “one of the hottest young journalists in pugilism.” He’s recently done Biofiles with Billie Jean King, Asafa Powell, and Olympic gold medalists Carolina Kluft, Oksana Baiul and Tirunesh Dibaba. Please visit his site www.thebiofile.com. Scoop is also a ham and egger tennis player, currently ranked No. 4 in the USTA Eastern 35s and holder of the Tennis Week singles title.