Golden couple: Siniakova and Machac win mixed doubles in Paris
Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac clinched the first gold medal of this year’s Olympic Tennis Event in Paris on Friday night, defeating China’s Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen 6-2 5-7 [10-8] in a thrilling mixed doubles final.
It was also Czechia's first gold medal in any sport at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Czech pair.
"It means a lot," Siniakova said afterwards. "It was stressful until the end. I‘m really happy that we won and proud that we fought until the end and excited about the gold medal."
Siniakova is now the only Czech player to win two gold medals for her country, having also captured women’s doubles gold in Tokyo alongside Barbora Krejcikova.
When asked how the two wins differed - one played behind closed doors due to Covid and one on a huge stage that is used to host one of the iconic Grand Slam events in front of a big crowd - Siniakova said she didn't like to compare.
"Every medal and every trophy is amazing and has different emotions, different feelings," she explained. "Definitely I am proud and happy that we could achieve the medal and that we got the gold. I’m enjoying the moment.
For Machac, it's a dream come true from someone who loved to watch movies about the sporting underdogs, like Eddie the Eagle.
He added: "For me to achieve something like this - my head is not getting it. It’s something special for me to achieve it with Kate. It’s not like usual. It’s really special."
And Machac still has the chance to pick up another medal in the men's doubles tomorrow.
"I will do everything in my power to win with Adam [Pavlasek] tomorrow," he said. "We’ve had a good tournament and we deserve a bronze."
In terms of the mixed doubles final, it was a thrilling, tense encounter that went down to the wire.
The Chinese pairing had made a habit this week of starting slowly, dropping the first set in every match of the tournament, before forcing a super tiebreak.
The final was no different.
The Czechs took a one-set-to-love lead after breaking in both the fifth and seventh games of the opening set and looked much the better pairing.
The second set was a much closer contest with neither side able to secure even a break point chance until the 12th game. With Siniakova serving, Zhang powered a backhand return past his Czech male counterpart to clinch the set and force the decider.
A nervy super tiebreak ensued, with almost every point going against serve. When Zhang double faulted at 8-8 to hand the Czechs match point, Siniakova and Machac seized their opportunity to claim gold.
For Wang, she hopes her country's performance at this year's Games will resonate at home. China are guaranteed two medals, with Zheng Qinwen still to play the women's singles final tomorrow.
Wang said: "Hopefully it’s bringing more people interested in tennis back at home. I know from my region, because of me, more people are interested in tennis. Compared with Europe or the US the tennis culture is starting a bit later. We have men’s players, women’s players – it’s becoming better and better."
For Zhang, who has played doubles with Machac this year, he joked that the Czech is in his bad books after winning the mixed doubles final and also knocking him out in the first round of the men's singles.
"Our friendship is totally broken," laughed Zhang. "He destroyed my Olympic Games!"
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