By Chris Oddo | Friday August 12, 2016
Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro have each ridden a wave of emotion to the Olympic medal round.
Photo Source: Getty
Two resurgent, irrepressible fan favorites are making the 2016 Olympic Tennis event a raucous and emotional rollercoaster this week.
Highlights, Social and More: Day 7 Olympic Tennis Blog
Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro set a to-die-for semifinal clash on Friday, each in straight sets and each with heavy, emotional overtones.
Nadal had to beat back the best efforts of Brazil’s top player—and a frothy fan base—on Friday. The Spaniard remained undefeated in Olympic men’s singles matches with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory and moved into the ATP’s 800-win club for good measure.
Nadal, who ended a 72-day hiatus with his first match here at Rio, has shown remarkable form all week. Today he dropped his first set of the week against the hard-hitting southpaw and continued to prove to the world that his injured left wrist is in a lot better shape than many thought it could be.
Nadal struck 20 winners against 25 unforced errors in the two-hour and one-minute contest to improve to 6-0 against Bellucci.
It was a physical encounter, and in it Nadal was pushed both emotionally and physically. He had to deal with a rowdy atmosphere and catcalls and boos from the crowd as well as the blistering ground game of the left-hander from Brazil.
But he took control of the crowd—and the match—to earn his 10th consecutive Olympic singles win.
Not too long after, Del Potro completed another emotional win over Nadal’s compatriot, Roberto Bautista Agut. The Argentine has needed time to find his form after returning from multiple surgeries on his left wrist this February, but he has emerged much further along than many expected this summer, particularly in Rio.
After stunning the event on Sunday night by knocking off world No.1 Novak Djokovic, Del Potro has backed up the upset by reaching the medal round in back-to-back Olympic Games.
World No. 141 Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion and former World No.4, was forced to contemplate a life without tennis during his time off due to injury. He could not contain his emotions after today’s match and was seen sitting in his chair, hiding his face in his towel as the tears would not stop flowing.
Despite their pedigrees, both on the Olympic stage and amongst the game’s elite, Nadal and Del Potro were considered longshots at best for Gold this week in Rio. But a lot has changed in five days. One of them is guaranteed a spot in the Gold medal match on Sunday, and both of them could end up on the podium when all is said and done.
Nadal holds the 8-4 lifetime edge against Del Potro but the pair have not met since 2013, a year that saw them split two matches.
In another thrilling encounter on Friday, Japan’s Kei Nishikori reached the medal round by saving three match points in a third-set tiebreaker against Gael Monfils. Nishikori was down 4-0 and 6-3 in the tiebreaker, but never quit. He held serve to get to 6-5 and after Monfils tossed in a double-fault at 6-5, Nishikori won a tense rally to gain match point.
He did not miss, and sets a clash with Andy Murray for a spot in the Gold medal match.
Murray, who has now won 16 straight matches, leads Nishikori 6-1 in their lifetime head-to-head. The pair went five sets in their last meeting at Davis Cup this year.