Olympics tennis results: August 13
Here are your Olympics tennis results from Day 9, August 13.
The first game on Day 9 of the Rio Olympics started out with a relatively easy win for world number two, with the reigning men’s singles gold medalist Andy Murray winning his semifinalist match against Japan’s Nishikori, 6-1, 6-4. Murray’s quarterfinal and third round matches were much more grueling with inconsistent performances from the Wimbledon champion, but he pulled through to his win yesterday.
This time, Murray came out strong from the start, quickly broke Nishikori’s serve, and clocked in the first set in just 30 minutes. Nishikori improved in the second set, but it wasn’t enough, with Murray continuing to dominate even if as he received a code violation.
With his advance into the final today, Murray is attempting to become one of just a few tennis players with multiple medals and the first to achieve back-to-back golds.
“I’m going to give my best effort and I’m happy I’m guaranteed the medal, but the goal is obviously the gold,” he said after the match to NBC.
But the Murray-Nishikori was a breeze compared to those that followed.
And the day really belonged to the underdogs.
Juan Martin del Potro went into these games with very little expectations. Ranked 141th in the world, he looked like a shell of the US Open winner who beat Roger Federer in the 2009 final. Four wrist surgeries left him shattered and pulling out of tournaments became a regular occurrence for him in the last seven years. He had only played just six tournaments in 2014 and even fewer in 2015—just two. He was out again last February for another operation on his left wrist.
He told Tennis Magazine last month, “I just have to stay patient and keep working hard, trying to get better as soon as I can.”
But yesterday’s matchup with Rafael Nadal was different. Certainly there were nerves on both sides, with the surprising result of del Potro, the tennis underdog, winning a long semifinal to pull through to the finals where he’ll meet Great Britain’s Andy Murray.
The level of play throughout this semifinal was first-rate and so many rallies simply were breathtaking. Both del Potro and Nadal won a set a piece and it came down to who would hold his nerve in the remaining set.
When del Potro broke Nadal, the Argentine’s chance for gold seemed a dream come true, but the Spaniard showed the resilient mind that has gotten him to 14 incredible grand slam victories by breaking right back. It came down to the tie-break and by this point, it looked like the two epic matches Nadal played on Friday took their toll and Rafa ran out of steam. Del Potro pulled out ahead in the tie-break, Rafa put up a fight, but the Argentine steeled his will to make it to the final. When the Spanish player hit his stroke long, it was all over and the US Open champion fell to the ground, in an emotional wave of disbelief, relief, and euphoria over his victory.
Team USA’s Madison Keys, age 21, put up a fight with Czechia’s Petra Kvitova for a chance at a bronze medal. After losing the first set, she fought back hard with a strong set finish of 6-2. Her game wilted in the decisive third set and Kvitova closed it out 6-2. Keys will be 4th, but the Czechia player will walk away with the bronze. Final score was 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
Kvitova told NBC that her medal was “one of the best things that happened in my career, definitely.”
The women’s final was the biggest surprise of all, with Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig in her first major final with Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who everyone expected to walk away with the gold.
Puig, ranked 34th in the world, showed very little nerves as she came out strong from the start, taking the first set 6-4. The German player rallied back by equaling Puig and reversing the score in the second set, 4-6. However, the decisive third set proved that Puig was no amateur as she attacked, out-thought, and counter-punched her opponent to win the set for gold, with a demoralizing final set score, 6-1.
Kerber was disappointed she didn’t equal her German compatriot’s Olympics performance, Stefi Graf, who won the gold in 1988. Still, she walks away from the Games an Olympic silver medalist.
Puig’s win is a historic first gold medal finish for a Puerto Rican. It was also the first time her country’s national anthem was played. She leaves Rio a historic gold medalist for her country and one to watch on the scene.
The women’s doubles bronze medal was an all Czechia game with the team of Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova winning the medal over their compatriots Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1.
Venus Williams is still in contention for another gold medal, her historic fifth. She won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and three doubles gold medals since then. She will be playing for gold in the mixed doubles final today with her partner Ram Rajeev. They won their semifinal match yesterday, 6-2, 2-6, 10-3.
They will face the other winners from the mixed doubles semifinals, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock, the only other American contenders for a tennis medal in Rio. It will be an all-American tennis final in mixed doubles.