Tennis 2016 Rio Olympic Review

Men’s Singles

The draw opened up in the top quarter when number one seed Novak Djokovic (Serbia), was eliminated in two tie breaks, by Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina). When the other seed in that quarter, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) was eliminated by Giles Muller (Luxembourg), it became clear someone would spring a surprise in that section. It would be the unseeded Del Potro who came through, but elsewhere it was the seeded players who made the semi-finals. The highlight aside from the Del Potro run up to that point, was probably a classic game between Kei Nishikori (Japan) and Gael Monfils (France). Del Potro managed to bully his way to the final, by beating Rafael Nadal (Spain) and came up against Andy Murray (Great Britain) who took gold with a three sets to one victory.

🥇Andy Murray 🇬🇧

🥈Juan Martin Del Potro 🇦🇷

🥉Kei Nishikori 🇯🇵

Men’s Doubles

The number one seeds were once again eliminated in the first round as Mahut/Herbert (France) were undone by Cabal/Farah (Colômbia). Instead proven doubles players would come through in Johnson/Sock (United States), going on to play Mergea/Tecău (Romania) - a regular tour pair. Murray/Murray (United Kingdom) highlighted the bottom half of the draw, but were once again out in the first round. It was the makeshift pair of Nadal/López (Spain) who progressed, beating Nestor/Pospisil (Canada) to make the final. They went on to win the final in the deciding set, giving Nadal a second Olympic gold medal.

🥇Rafael Nadal/Marc Lopez 🇪🇸

🥈Florin Mergea/Horin Tecău 🇷🇴

🥉Steve Johnson/Jack Sock 🇺🇸

Women’s Singles

Serena Williams (United States) advanced further than both men's number one seeds, but went down in the third round to Elina Svitolina (Ukraine). Svitolina was in turn defeated by Petra Kvitová (Czech Republic) who came up against the in-form Monica Puig (Puerto Rico), who only lost 14 games in four matches. Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) was another seed, who went out in the first round, whilst Angelique Kerber (Germany) made her way comfortably through the rounds. Puig overcame Kvitová and Kerber in three sets to become the first Puerto Rican female to win gold.

🥇Monica Puig 🇵🇷

🥈Angelique Kerber 🇩🇪

🥉Petra Kvitová 🇨🇿

Women’s Doubles

Another first-round seed was knocked out in the first round, as Williams/Williams (United States) were defeated by Safarova/Strycova (Czech Republic). The second seeds, García/Mladenovic (France), were also eliminated, upset by Doi/Hozumi (Japan). In the semi-finals, Hingis/Bacsinszky (Switzerland) defeated Hlavackova/Hradecká (Czech Republic) in three sets. They came up against Vesnina/Makarova (Russia) in the final, who had not lost a set throughout the tournament. That record continued in the final as they won 6-4 6-4.

🥇Elena Vesnina/Ekaterina Makarova 🇷🇺

🥈Timea Bacsinszky/Martina Hingis 🇨🇭

🥉Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecká 🇨🇿

Mixed Doubles

Arguably the most intriguing pair in the draw, Muguruza/Nadal (Spain) pulled up out before the first game. They were joined by the top two seeds, who went out in round one with García/Mahut (France) losing to Pereira/Melo (Brazil) and Mladenovic/Hughes-Herbert (France) losing to Vinci/Fognini (Italy). The final came down to a super tiebreak between the two American pairs; Mattek-Sands/Sock (United States) defeating Williams/Ram (United States).

🥇Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Jack Sock 🇺🇸

🥈Venus Williams/Rajeev Ram 🇺🇸

🥉Lucie Hradecká/Radek Stepanek 🇨🇿