The first medals in the Olympic tennis competition will be awarded today with the men’s doubles gold and bronze medal matches.
Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez will be bidding to become the first Spanish team to win a gold medal in the event. The sixth seeds booked their place in the final after defeating Canada’s Vasek Pospisil and Daniel Nestor in straight sets. Their final opponents will be Romanian doubles specialists Florin Mergea And Horia Tecău, who won the Bucharest Open earlier this year. Triumph in the final will award Nadal his second gold after Beijing 2008 and Lopez his first. Meanwhile, Mergea and Tecau have already booked their place in history by becoming the first tennis players from their country to win an Olympic medal.
The Bronze medal play-off will see a North American clash between Pospisil and Nestor against Jack Sock and Steve Johnson. Incredibly the match gives Canada a chance to win only their second Olympic medal in tennis after a bronze from the 2000 Games compared to America, who are seeking their 37th.
Besides the two medal matches, there will be a variety of action from the singles competition with the men’s quarter-finals and women’s semifinals taking place. Both of the women’s matches will occur on the centre court with proceedings kicking off with Petra kvitova against Monica Puig in what will be their first ever meeting. Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova has dropped just one set in the tournament, which was against Ekaterina Makarova in the third round. In comparison Puig has been extremely impressive by not dropping a set and losing just 14 games in four matches.
In the other semifinal, Angelique Kerber takes on American talent Madison Keys. The Australian Open champion will be the stand out favourite in the match after producing some sensational tennis in Rio this week. Yet to drop a set, Kerber has already eased her way past Eugenie Bouchard, Sam Stosur and Johanna Konta. Meanwhile, Keys endured two tough three set encounters against Kristina Mladenovic and Carla Suarez Navarro on her way to the last four. Kerber currently has a winning 4-1 head-to-head over the American.
Regarding the men’s draw, there is only one match that is being talked about in Rio. In a battle of a gold medal favourite against the home favourite, Nadal will take on Thomaz Bellucci. Statistically the nine-time French Open champion should ease his way to the last four after defeating Bellucci five consecutive times without dropping a set. On the other hand, the Brazilian has been playing some inspired tennis this week and ended the hopes of David Goffin on Thursday. This match promises to be a test of both player’s ability to handle the pressure.
Following his roller coaster encounter against Fabio Fognini, defending champion Andy Murray will be eager to display a good performance against 12th seed Steve Johnson. Playing first on court 1, the Wimbledon champion will be hoping to repeat his previous performance against the American. At the 2015 Shanghai Masters, he defeated Johnson 6-2, 6-4.
As far as quality is concerned, the best men’s match in the category could be between Kei Nishikori and Gael Monfils. Both men have been impressive on the tour this season and have won titles. According to the seeds, Nishikori is the favourite, however, Monfils has the skills and variety to secure an upset. The Japanese has won both of their previous encounter in three sets.
Finally, Juan Martin del Potro will continue his quest for another Olympic medal against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut. It will be the first meeting between between the two since the 2014 Australian Open.
Order of play
