11.35pm: What a night. It's been an absolute privilege to be here and we get to do it all again tomorrow.

Play starts at 2pm with Dinara Safina taking on Elena Dementieva and then the biggy. Spain's Rafael Nadal takes on Chile's Fernando Gonazalez in the men's singles final.

Make sure you join us and see you then. Good night from Beijing.

11.28pm: We've had the ceremony and now all six medallists are doing a circuit of stadium to say thanks and take the applause. This is what being an Olympian is all about. All those hours of practice, all that time travelling, they deserve it, lap it up I say.  

11.09pm: GOLD MEDAL ROGER FEDERER and STANISLAS WAWRINKA

Fed serves, the Swedes stick it wide and that's it. Fed and Stan hug for what seems like hours and the smiles couldn't be wider. It's been a pretty poor 2008 for the Fed, but this will make up for everything. Fantastic scenes as both the Swiss guys throw all their kit into the crowd. Jubilation, Jubilation, Jubilation all round.

11.08pm: Match point Switzerland......

11.06pm: 5-3 to Spain, but Rog to serve...

11.03pm: Stan really is the man and serves a game like Pistol Pete Sampras in his pomp. 5-2 and the Swiss duo one game away from gold.  

11.01pm: One back for the Swedes, but it still sits at 4-2 to Fed and Stan. 

10.58pm: It has an air of inevitability about it now, the Swiss are on fire and charging' like a pack of elephants. With a lot more style than the grey fellas, but I think you get the point.

10.55pm: The chants of 'Hopp Schwiiz' are resounding around the Centre Court as the Swiss have broken to lead 3-1 in the fourth.  And again it was the Aspelin serve that went.  But let's not knock Aspelin - these two Swiss make up a great pairing.  And if they go on to win gold, as they surely must now, I hope that will make Roger commit to a full year's Davis Cup next year rather than just picking and choosing selective ties.  If these two remain fit, Switzerland could win the Davis Cup.

10.45pm: Match point Spain…and they’ve done it.!! There will be no gold medal for the host nation in the tennis, as Yan and Zheng have lost to Medina and Ruano 64 76(5).  The Chinese led the tiebreak 5-3, but they made a run of errors, the most costly being the missed volley by Yan at 6-5 which went long, unleashing shrieks of delight from the Spaniards.  So it'll be the French Open champions against the Wimbledon champions in the gold medal match.

10.35pm: The yellow-clad Swedes at the side of the court are dancing in the aisles, because their pair has won the third set.  Aspelin and Johansson have won the tiebreak 7-4.  Two hours 15 minutes - game on.

10.25pm: There's been a real turnaround on Court 1.  A few minutes ago the Spaniards had a point to lead 5-3, but now they're 4-5 down and they've just saved a set point from the Chinese.  We're in a third set tiebreak on Centre - could this be Federer's moment for gold?

10.16pm: The level of tennis gets better and better.  A purist might say there are too many misunderstandings for it to be classic doubles, but it's highly entertaining.  Some of the rallies are exhilarating, and we're reaching the sharp end of the third set with Johansson serving at 4-4.  Medina and Ruano have broken Yan and Zheng on Court 1 and at 4-3 are now just two games away from facing the Williams sisters in the gold medal match.

10.07pm: What a sensational rally we've just had.  Federer must have run about 10,000 metres in the course of it, running down a short ball, chasing back to get a lob, Johansson playing a wristy shot from behind him, Federer playing a delicate volley, and the point finally ending when each Swede left the ball to the other.  The crowd are loving this, and there's not even a Chinese player on court.  Which reminds me, the Chinese on Court 1 are 3-3 second set with the Spaniards, and it's 3-3 on Centre too.

9.53pm: No sooner do the Swedes break than they are broken again.  What's interesting - at least to me - is that the Swiss have started every set with Federer serving, even though it has meant changing the ends from which they are serving from.  Normally a doubles team decides which end each player is going to serve from and sticks to it, but the Swiss team have obviously decided Federer's serve is the stronger.  So far that hasn't been the case, and Wawrinka has just held to level the third set at 2-2.  

9.42pm: There's a syndrome about Olympic tennis medal ceremonies that means the bronze medallists are almost always happier than the silver medallists.  It's because the ceremonies take place about 15 minutes after the gold medal match, when the silver medallists are still digesting a bitter defeat, but the bronze winners have won their final match.  With our first ceremony potentially about 40 or so minutes away, I somehow don't think it'll be like that this time.  The Swedes will probably be very happy with their silver, unless of course they come back to force a fifth set and then lose it 11-9 or something.  They've taken the first step towards that comeback by breaking Federer for 2-0, so there may be some life in this match yet.

9.34pm: The Swiss are two sets up, 63 64 the score, and they are on fire, the Swedes positively melting in the fondue pot.  And it's not all Federer - when he used to partner Yves Allegro there was always the feeling that it was all about Federer, and Allegro just had to do his bit, but Wawrinka is a fully-fledged member of this partnership.  Not only is he returning from the advantage court, but he is frequently taking on 50:50 balls that come down the middle.  He's certainly not in awe of his illustrious partner. 

9.31pm: Medina/Ruano have taken the first set against Yan/Zheng in the second women's semi, but they had to work hard for it.  Federer serving to give him and Wawrinka a two-sets lead (remember it's best-of-five sets in the men's singles and doubles gold medal matches).

9.26pm: The Swiss have saved another two break points, which shows that the Swedes are fighting, but they're almost stronger on Wawrinka's serve than on Federer's because Federer is so strong at the net.  The two break points and the point that sealed a 5-3 lead were all finished on Federer volleys.  

9.16pm:  The Swedes had two break-back points on the Federer serve, but the Swiss saved them and now lead 4-2.  I don't think the Swiss have lost serve this tournament - maybe they lost their serve in the first set of their first round match against Bolelli and Seppi, but I don't think they've done so since.  On Court 1 the Spaniards are 5-3 up on the Chinese. 

9.08pm: That's the way the Swiss rolls.  Federer and Wawrinka have again broken the Aspelin serve.  There's an Alfred Hitchcock film 'Marnie' in which a character goes mad every time she sees a block of red.  I suspect the Swedes are feeling that way when they look at the scarlet shirts of the two Swiss players.  3-2 to the Swiss with a break. 

8.55pm:  We have all our matches on court, and it's not yet nine o'clock.  The second women's doubles semi has just started on Court 1, and it's China's last chance of a tennis gold medal as Yan Zi and Zheng Jie take on the French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.  It's 1-1 first set, and though I can't hear it from here, I suspect the atmosphere is electric. 

8.49pm: That's proved the one service break, the Swiiss have the first set 6-3 in under half an hour, and while I hestitate to say this given how our matches have gone in recent days, this may be a quick one.

8.37pm: The Swiss train is powering through the Alps. Federer and Wawrinka broke the Aspelin serve in the fourth game and currently lead 4-1. They look very good, and under the lights their bright red shirts stand out like two bright lights. Federer looks extremely well presented, while Wawrinka hasn't bothered to shave and looks a bit like he's just got out of bed.  Is it possible one of them thought about the photos that will be taken on the medal rostrum and the other one didn't? 

8.29pm: BRONZE MEDAL BOB AND MIKE BRYAN

The Bryans have done it, but it happened anti-climactically.  The French challenged, the call of 'out' was upheld, and that was the twins' moment of triumph.  So there was no chest bump, just a gentle hug.  That's the risk of challenges - they can sometimes wreck the emotion of a big moment.  Not that one woman in the front row will care, because she got Mike Bryan's racket - he singled her out because she was carrying the Star-Spangled Banner.

8.23pm: Full marks to Phil Nguyen for providing the answer to my question posed at ...  The last match involving two sets of sisters came last year in Istanbul, where Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska beat the Bondarenkos 6-4 6-1.  And there was I looking for matches back in the 1980s when the answer was under my nose!  Well done Phil.

8.16pm: The main event of the evening is just about to happen. Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland will take on Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson of Sweden in the men's doubles final. This is for an Olympic gold medal people. Hold onto your hats and enjoy the ride. See our Match of the Day feature to get all the background.

8.01pm: In all that madness, the Bryans did indeed take the second set 6-3 and now its 2-3 to Clement/Llodra in the 3rd.

7.58pm: ND rips his top off and throws it into the crowd. And now he throws his racket as well. What a memento for someone. And for the ladies, a memento of seeing ND with his top off. Gosh he is buff isn't he. Ended up 6-3 7-6(3).

7.56pm: BRONZE MEDAL NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Huge pat on the back the spikey haired Serb. Fantastic moment as he drops to his news and puts his hands high in the Beijing night.

7.55pn: Match point ND at 6-3 in tiebreak.

7.53pm: Changing ends at 3-3 in the tiebreak are ND and Blakey. Ooo its tight.

7.47pm: 6 all in the second set on Centre Court. Djokovic and Blake going mano o mano for this sparkly little medal disc.  What a thought having one of those bad boys on your mantlepiece.

7.37pm: Djokovic is in with a shout of winning Serbia's second medal at these Games. Serbia won their first medal in the Men's 100m butterfly final this morning, when Milorad Cavic missed out by a hair's breath (100th of a second no less!) from the extraordinary Michael Phelps to earn a silver. What an athlete that guy is and we are all extremely privleged to be in Beijing with that guy. 4-4 second set on Centre Court.

7.30pm: Everyone knows how much an Olympic medal would mean to Bob and Mike Bryan. They are wrestling the bronze back off the French as we  speak, 4-1 up in the second set.  

7.20pm: Yet another VIP has just entered the tennis centre. Wow, we’ve been blessed with some VIP’s over the past few days, but this one is right up with most important of VIP’s you could hope to get an Olympic Games. IOC President Jacques Rogge is here. Welcome sir. 

7.05pm: ND holding shape and form vs Blakey. He’s got the first set 6-3.

7.01pm: More USA players on Court 1 in the form of the Byans. It’s 3-3 vs the French guys.

6.59pm: Better news for the American’s on Court 2. Serena and Williams fist pumping and high fiving into a 3-0 lead. Big mountain now for the Ukrainians.  

6.54pm: Novak Djokovic wants this bronze and wants it bad. James Blakes looks a tad lethargic it has to be said, but ND isn't giving him a sniff. 4-2 Serbia.

6.40pm: All the sisters on Court 2 is going the distance. Williams won the second set 6-4. Deciding set to follow and the sun is going down. 

6.37pm: Ok, so that’s the women’s final sorted. Next on court we have the battle of the bronzes. Novak Djokovic plays James Blake in the men's singles bronze medal match and the men's doubles bronze medal line up has America's Bob and Mike Bryan up against Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra of France. Game on.  

6.23pm: 3 match points Russia. Li Na saves one, but then dumps a forehand long and hands Dinara a spot in the final 76(3) 75.

6.20pm: Safina has managed to hold serve and is now inches away from going for Gold. 6-5 to Marat's sister.

6.19pm: We have a result on Cout 1. Elene Dementieva is in the Olympic final. Very many congrats to the 6ft blonde Russia, who shakes the hand of Vera with a 63 76(3) victory.

6.15pm: Safina, yards behind the baseline plays it safe and it comes off. They are locked and loaded at 5-5. We’ve been going over 2 hours now.

6.13pm: Li Na looks so nervous as she tries to equal this semifinal up I almost feel sorry for her.  Safina had 2 break points but the Chinese hero manages to find deuce.

6.10pm: Vera and Elena are going into a tiebreak in the second set. Who wants it most I ask you?

6.05pm: The Bondarenkos have taken the first set against the Williamses, 64.  It always sounds like arranging a dinner party when I talk about that match - do the right couples and families match up with each other? Europe's royal families have been putting in a few visits to the tennis centre this week, and we now have King Carl Gustav of Sweden here, no doubt to support Aspelin and Johansson in the men's doubles gold medal match.  Mind you, I hope he's brought a paper to read, because we have to finish the Li-Safina match (Li leading 5-3 so it's heading for a deciding set) and then there's the men's singles bronze playoff between Blake and Djokovic.  

5.59pm: Vera Zvonareva is hanging on by her fingernails.  She's just saved two match points against Elena Dementieva in a second set that's gone entirely with serve so far.  That's someting that can't be said for either of the other two matches on court.  Breaks galore on Centre where Li leads Safina 4-2, and the Williamses have been broken on Court, which means the Bondarenkos are serving for the set at 5-4.  

5.48pm: We've had a rarity on Centre Court - four successive games with the serve, but it couldn't last, and it hasn't.  Thus far, both Li and Safina have shown themselves to be more effective returning than serving, but for the first four games of this set the serves took.  But Li has just broken for 3-2.  In the other semi, Dementieva is edging ever closer to a guaranteed silver, she's a set up on Zvonareva, 4-4, and they're having a marathon ninth game of the set.

5.40pm: There's a character on Centre Court that those of us who have done Davis and Fed Cup ties in Moscow have come to know as "Mr Rossia".  He's thick-set and obviously has a fair pair of lungs, because whenever a Russian is playing he picks his moments to shout "Ross-eee-aaah".  And at the moment Russia is heading for both women's finalists, so what will he shout tomorrow?

5.35pm: I've been wracking my brains trying to see if two teams of sisters have ever played each other at tour level. I've just been through the Williamses' complete doubles record and they've never played a pair of sisters, and I can't think who the Bondarenkos would have played.  Maybe two of the three Maleeva sisters may have played a pair of sisters, but who?  It wouldn't have been the Aussies Anne and Liz Minter.  One for the global commnity of tennis anoraks.  By the way it's 1-1.  

5.25pm: Safina has taken the tiebreak 7-3, too many errors from Li, but it was a high quality set which took 72 minutes.  Bank on Li to bounce back in the second.  Dementieva is 3-2 up on Zvonareva in the second set, but they're on serve. 

5.20pm: Safina and Li are in a tiebreak, but Safina's forging ahead, you can tell who's winning the points just by the amount of noise coming from the crowd.  Safina leads 5-1, but don't count Li out.

5.11pm: Centre Court has gone mad, because Li has levelled at 5-5.  Safina also nearly went mad, furious with herself, but I think she needs to give a little more credit to her opponent, whose powers of running down lost causes are magnificent.  Out on Court 2 we're about to see an unusual sight, a match featuring two pairs of sisters: Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko against Serena and Venus Williams.

5.07pm Dementieva has won the first set out on Court 1, 63 over Zvonareva, while Li is battling on Centre.  Safina had a set point at 5-4, but Li saved it with a sizzler down the line, right into the corner.  They're still in a marathon 10th game, Safin serving at 5-4.

4.54pm: There's a fantastic atmosphere on Centre Court thanks to the home support for Li Na.  And she inspires support because she never knows when she's beaten.  She was 4-1 down to Venus Williams in the last round and won in straight sets, and she has bounced back from 1-3 to lead Safina 4-3.  On Court 1 Dementieva leads Zvonareva 5-3.

4.44pm: Bill Gates is back with us on Centre Court, the computer magnate enjoying a good scrap between Li and Safina.  Safina led 3-1, but she performed several illegal operations with her forehand and Li closed her down.  It's now 3-3.

4.35pm: Li Na has a secret weapon. She is wearing a new space-age shoe from her sponsor company. Each shoe weighs just 227grams compared to 454 grams for a normal tennis shoe. Li is the only player wearing the shoe. It utilises a form that was developed by NASA and provides and athlete with exceptional support and recreate the experience of a space walk. Li said, "When I first saw them I didn't believe they were tennis shoes because they are so beautiful and light. After two days I fell in love with them."

4.29pm: The two women's semis have both started in parallel, the scores are identical - 2-1 with a break of serve in each.  On Centre, it's Safina who's leading Li, while Dementieva is 2-1 up on Zvonareva on Court 1.  About 10 minutes ago Alex Metreveli, the Wimbledon runner-up from 1973 and a long-standing commentator for Russian television, walked past me in the corridor.  He's obviously not doing either of the women's matches, despite the two semis being the matches involving Russian players.

4.13pm: I must be hallucinating - I seem to be seeing Dinara Safina wherever I go.  She was on court for a couple of hours yesterday evening playing singles, she was on court for about three hours in the small hours of this morning when I was packing up my laptop and things, as I walked out to get the bus back to our hotel there she was with other members of the Russian team (including former players Andrei Olhovskiy and Larisa Savchenko), and I look out on Centre Court and there she is again.  Maybe she lives here.  She's out there facing Li Na, whose every winner is greeted as a monumental triumph.

3.50pm: Greetings from Beijing on the penultimate day of the tennis - at least what's scheduled to be the penultimate day, but I guess that's dependent on the weather.  It looks fine for the moment, not quite so sunny as yesterday and the humidity is back up again, but it's pleasant, and well set for the first medal matches of the event.  And remember, the men don't win gold without winning a best-of-five sets match, so if yesterday's seven final sets in 11 matches is anything to go by, the men's doubles gold will be decided about five o'clock tomorrow morning.