Rafael Nadal of Spain advanced to the semifinal round after winning its quarterfinal round match in the Men’s Singles Tennis tournament of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Advertisement
A exhausted Nadal saw the first set blow past him, with Bellucci winning 6-2.
After his doubles success, Nadal will now target singles glory, but faces the stern test of Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-finals.
After two hours and 26 minutes, Nadal and Lopez finally overcame Mergea and Tecau 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Spain Rafael Nadal, right, celebrates with doubles partner Marc Lopez after defeating Romania’s Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau in the gold medal match of the men’s doubles tennis competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 12, 2016.
“It was an awesome experience, especially doing it with one of my best friends, with Marc, it’s something unforgettable for me, for both of us”, said Nadal. Nadal also got 2 aces throughout the match.
It is the first half of what would be a quite remarkable double of wins for Nadal, who now sets his sight on singles glory where he will bid to beat Andy Murray to the title.
In women’s semi-final action here on Friday, Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig pulled off a historic victory over Czech Petra Kvitova, a win that assures she will become the first-ever female athlete from the US commonwealth to win an Olympic medal.
His semi-final opponent on Saturday will be Japanese No. 4 seed Kei Nishikori, who scraped past Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6).
A dramatic day of singles action at the Rio Olympics saw three of the top four seeds in the tournament book their spots in the semifinals.
Lopez won his first Grand Slam doubles title at the French Open in June, pairing with Feliciano Lopez – they’re not related – to beat American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in that final. “I will be at a disadvantage, but the scheduling is just something you have to accept”, he said. “He moves a lot at the net, puts a lot of pressure, defends really well”, said Tecau.
Nadal then held for a 5-4 lead.
Advertisement
Mergea and Tecau made up the defeated Romanian duo who went down easily in the first set but rallied in the second to give the Spaniards a brief bat-free scare before they wrapped things up in the third.
