Benneteau and Gasquet win doubles bronze at London 2012
Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet have picked up the men's doubles bronze medal for France at the Olympic Tennis Event after defeating David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez 7-6(4) 6-2 in 1 hour 20 minutes.
After both pairs lost their semi-final matches on Friday, it was the French duo who seemed to be more fired up as the bronze medal match got under way on Saturday afternoon, played in front of a near capacity crowd on No. 1 Court.
Benneteau and Gasquet had the chance to move ahead first, but failed to convert their break point opportunity at 2-1. It would be the last one they had in the first set, although the Spaniards had two chances to break at 5-5. Again, not converted.
The inevitable tiebreak saw the French jump into an early lead with Ferrer and Lopez always fighting to keep their heads above water. The French pair finally won the first set 7-4 in the breaker after a phenomenal shot from Gasquet.
Lopez was serving to Benneteau in the deuce court at 6-4, and the Frenchman spooned a return towards Ferrer at the net. The Spaniard didn't put away the first volley and when it came back to him he naturally tried to bounce it out of the court.
Gasquet, stretching high to the backhand side on the baseline, got his racket to the ball and guided it down the line for an incredible winner. Cue the emotions as the normally calm-looking Gasquet celebrated like he'd won the gold medal.
That moment was a sign of just how much this match meant to the French pair, and they continued where they left off at the start of the second set by breaking in the third game. Ferrer trailed 0-40 and, despite fighting back to 30-40, could do nothing to stop Gasquet's majestic backhand return flying for a another winner down the same line as on set point.
Two games later the French pair doubled up. Lopez found himself serving at 15-40. Again the Spaniards dug deep, this time getting back to deuce, but a double fault, and then an excellent return from Gasquet which set up Benneteau with an easy volley, was enough to seal the break.
There was no way back for the Spaniards now. The match proceeded with serve and when Benneteau finally held to love at 5-2, the French pair dropped to the floor as it suddenly sunk in what they had achieved, a medal at the Olympic Games.
The first two matches on No. 1 Court today have demonstrated just how much the Olympics means to these tennis players. First there were tears from the world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, at winning a bronze medal for her country, and then the emotional scenes are replicated by this French doubles pair.
The day isn't over for France, either. The other French men's doubles team playing at the Olympics, Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, are through to the final later today on Centre Court.
Llodra and Tsonga are up against the world's top ranked team, Americans Bob and Mike Bryan. The French pair will be hoping to draw inspiration from the performance of their compatriots, who certainly did their country proud.