Stan Wawrinka shares picture with Roger Federer after winning gold medal in Beijing

Alongside four Majors, the Olympic Games in Tokyo should have been the highlight of the current tennis season, with many players from the top ready to seek the gold medal at Ariake Tennis Park between July 25 - August 2. Nonetheless, the coronavirus pandemic has forced the ATP and WTA to postpone all the events until the second week of June and the leading sporting event of the year could not have taken place in Tokyo under these circumstances either, with the International Olympic Committee deciding to postpone the Summer Games, as the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday. Stan Wawrinka shared a picture of himself with Roger Federer from Beijing 2008 when they won the men's doubles gold medal, hoping to compete with his great fried next summer as well. After a surprising loss to Tomas Berdych in Athens 2004, Roger Federer came to Beijing Olympics as one of the favorites for the men's singles gold medal, denied by James Blake in the quarter-final.

After that, Roger turned his focus to men's doubles event, joining forces with his good friend Stan Wawrinka to forge a great team that went all the way to win the gold medal for Switzerland and earn the Olympic glory. A day before the final, the Swiss duo had a busy schedule, defeating Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the quarters before stunning Bob and Mike Bryan in the semi-final to reach the title match against Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson who prevailed against Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in four hours and 46 minutes! After that thrilling victory over the Bryan brothers, Roger and Stan were pumped and motivated to make one final push and grab the gold on August 16, ousting the Swedes 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to start a massive celebration after a service winner from Roger in the final point. The Swiss pair earned the first break in game four and closed the opener after an excellent hold from Roger in game nine for a 6-3.

They scored one break in set number two as well for a 6-4, serving better than the Swedes and making fewer errors to move closer to the finish line. Johansson and Aspelin finally broke their rivals at the beginning of the third set to gain some momentum, although it was a short-lived one as they lost serve in the very next game after three double faults! Still, the Swedes won the tie break 7-4 to prolong the encounter for at least one more set, hoping to make a complete comeback and lift the first title together. As it turned out, the third set was their maximum as Wawrinka and Federer scored a break in the fourth game of the fourth set to keep the advantage until the end to become the champions. This medal came in the perfect moment for Roger who was about to lose the no. 1 spot to Rafael Nadal two days later, stepping down from the ATP throne for the first time in four and a half years.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3aoSRlN