Swiss Doubles gold medal defending dream ends in dismay at the London Olympics – Tennis News
Beijing Olympics defending gold medallist Swiss duo, Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, received an early and disappointing departure from this year’s Olympics in an hour and 39-minute match on Wednesday. The sixth-seeded team faced a thrashing defeat at the hands of the Israeli combination of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, with the final scores settling at 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the second round at the court 18 of the All-England-Club. Nevertheless, both the players were determined to comeback with a strong defence of their title but failed miserably.
Before the start of the Great Games, the reigning world number one termed his doubles victory with Wawrinka as one the greatest achievement in his career. The loss by the Swiss team was indeed one of the huge upsets of the mega event so far.
Federer told the media, “I thought we played an excellent first set. Conditions were tough. They were breezy, a lot of shadow on the courts. But that did not disrupt our great playing. It was a pity we could not create a few more, maybe, opportunities throughout the second set.”
He further added, “But obviously they found a bit of a way to get back into the match. They definitely played better once sort of the shadow went, all the flags, all the spectator shadows were gone. It was more clean tennis.”
The Swiss number two said, “I think we play good doubles, but doubles can be really tough”
The Israeli team won 46 percent of their service points and lost the serve three times in opening set. Their focus on the game was remarkable, as the players showed maturity and endurance against the world champions. After the first set, they did not give the Swiss team any chance to break their serve. In the second set, they took a lead in the tie-breaker round and finally, claimed their splendid victory be reeling off the decisive set.
Erlich and Ram have a fair chance to upset all odds this season and bag home the gold medal in the men’s double. The Israeli pair won the Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open Champions in 2008. The road to victory for the Israeli duo is not easy for them this Olympics, as they will be facing the defending bronze medallist, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.
The only gold medal for the Swiss Maestro, Federer is in the singles. He is one of the favourite contenders as his game play proactive and agile this season and he wishes to write a forceful start to a classic ending.
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