Mattek-Sands and Sock win gold for USA at Rio 2016
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock won an all-American mixed doubles final at Rio 2016, prevailing 6-7(3) 6-1 [10-7] to end Venus Williams' bid to claim an historic fifth gold alongside her partner Rajeev Ram.
In an entertaining, see-saw encounter lasting an hour and 45 minutes, Mattek-Sands and Sock recovered from losing a tight first set to run away with the second and take a 3-0 lead in the match tiebreak. But their rival compatriots won the next six games to take a 6-3 lead, before some strong play from Sock drew them level at 6-6.
Mattek-Sands and Sock then won the next three points to bring up two match points, and won the match on their second against Williams' serve after a successful Hawk-Eye challenge on their first.
As Williams sent a short return into the net, Mattek-Sands, 31, and 23-year-old Sock embraced before raising their arms in joy and disbelief.
It was USA's second tennis medal of Rio 2016, Sock having played a part in winning men's doubles bronze too on Friday in partnership with Steve Johnson. He is the only player to take home two medals from this Olympic Tennis Event.
For Sock, who has been suffering from walking pneumonia in recent weeks, "the victory was pretty special and pretty surreal. Definitely a moment we'll never forget and something we'll always share together."
Talking about where the gold medal ranked in her career, which has included four Grand Slam titles in women's and mixed doubles, Mattek-Sands said: "This is probably going to be on the top. I mean, this is my first Olympics, first time being selected. I don't think it's even comparable. You know, I'm super proud of myself for my Grand Slam titles, but I think the Olympics is just a different category altogether."
Although Williams missed out on her fairy-tale fifth gold medal, by capturing silver here she has become just the second tennis player ever to win five Olympic medals of any kind, equalling the mark set by Britain's Kathleen McKane, who also won five between 1920-1924.
"It's been an amazing experience, five Olympics for me," said the American. "It's surreal every time I think about that I even came out with any hardware at all. It's so well‑contested, these matches, every single one."
The bronze medal went to Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek, who ensured that Czech Republic won three of the five bronze medals on offer in the Olympic Tennis Event.
Stepanek, 37, and Hradecka defeated Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna 6-1 7-5 in the bronze medal play-off. This followed bronzes on Saturday for two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in women's singles, and for Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova in women's doubles, meaning that five members of the Czech Olympic tennis team had podium finishes at Rio 2016.
Stepanek is the first Czech male tennis player to win an Olympic medal since Seoul 1988 when, playing under the flag of Czechoslovakia, Miloslav Mecir won gold and teamed with Milan Srejber for doubles bronze.
"I can compare this with the Davis Cup finals, because I think the nicest, deepest and strongest emotions you can only achieve when you play for your country, which I would recommend to everyone to at least go through once," said Stepanek. "It is something amazingly special; this medal belongs to our whole country. I'm slowly losing my words because I am slowly starting to realise what we have achieved."
Hradecka, who with Andrea Hlavackova lost the women's doubles bronze medal match on Saturday, said, "Yesterday I was so disappointed, but I had a good night and slept well last night, and this morning I wake up with the full energy. We did everything to get the medal and we did, and I am so, so happy."
There was double disappointment for India's Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, who by losing the mixed doubles bronze medal play-off suffered their second successive defeat after falling in Saturday's semis to Williams and Ram.