Beijing, August 17, 2008 - A Spanish version of Superman is born – a tennis Superman that is.
Rafael Nadal stood proud with his country’s flag on his shoulders, accepting his well-deserved Olympic gold medal.
Nadal, already at No. 1 in rank at the Olympics, won the coveted gold medal in the male’s singles division in tennis after defeating Fernando Gonzalez in a game of 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3.
Nadal’s gold medal was Spain’s first medal in tennis at the Olympics. It was another huge milestone for Nadal, who ended Roger Federer’s reign on top of the world ranks at the recent Wimbledon tournament.
Despite arriving tired at the Olympics, Nadal’s experience at the athletes’ village proved to be rejuvenating and integral in his fast recovery and impending victory.
During the game, Nadal took charge of the game against Fernando Gonzalez right from the start. However, in the second set, Nadal did not face any break points up until the 12th game of the second set. He was down 5-6, 15-40 then.
When Gonzalez made five unforced, yet critical, errors during the tiebreaker, Nadal took a commanding lead. By the final set, at 3-1, Nadal shot a backhand passing shot and erased two more break points, holding at 5-2. He needed four match points to win, and he shot out a forehand that Gonzalez just could not reach. And then it was over.
Nadal won the gold medal, and he said, “I think I played almost perfect match.”