Supported by a whole country, the Scotsman Andy Murray captured Olympic gold on Wimbledon’s grass by atomising the King, Federer. Among the ladies, Serena Williams took it all.
Andy Murray, at last!
6-2, 6-1, 6-4. That's the spanking inflicted by Andy Murray to win on his island and take the gold medal at the London Olympics wearing the Union Jack outfit to the strains of God Save the Queen. Yes, Andy, the best player in history not to have won a Grand Slam, was under tremendous pressure but he managed to deal with it. In final, against a Roger Federer completely burnt out after his epic semi-final against Del Potro (19-17 in the third set, Editor's note), Murray pulled out an almost perfect game to win on the grass of Wimbledon. His greatest victory, without a doubt. Especially following a victory over Djokovic in the semis. In the wake of his final, Andy Murray also took the silver in mixed doubles with Laura Robson (going down 8-10 in the third set, Editor's note). Two medals in less than three hours, try to top that.
Serena Williams, the voracious
Serena Williams leaves London with two gold charms. Nice one. In singles, she toyed with Maria Sharapova in the final (6-0,6-1), barely getting out of second gear. Missiles from the baseline, a high-powered service and aggressive service returns = job done.
In doubles with her sister Venus, the Williams also struck gold, brushing aside the Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Andrea Hlavackova in two sets (6-4, 6-4) in a repeat of the Wimbledon final. It is their third Olympic doubles title after those of 2000 and 2008. A historic performance, as no pair had ever won three Olympic gold before them.
Even better, Serena becomes the first player in history to have won all Grand Slam titles in singles and doubles and the Olympic gold in singles and doubles. Yum!
The number: 17
The number of games lost by Serena Williams during the Olympic singles tournament. It should be said that the American did not embarrass herself with numbers in the final against Sharapova: 6-0, 6-1. By way of comparison, Roger Federer lost seventeen games in the third set of his semi-final against Del Potro (19-17). Yeah, she takes it easy, Serena.
The quote
“She's playing incredibly confident tennis. After winning Wimbledon (last month), you've seen her level progress so much here over this tournament. With every match she's played, she's getting better, hitting harder and with so much power on the ball, even against the wind today. Her shots were very powerful. She's done an incredible job of keeping that up.”
This is Maria Sharapova's confession, and she’s far from a sissy with racquet in hand. The Russian had just taken a beating in the final against the youngest of the Williams sisters. The beautiful Maria has now registered three consecutive defeats against Serena, during which she took only nine games. Ouch.
The tweet
Gregory Beaud is a journalist for 20minutes in Switzerland. And among the Helvetian delegation, you pull a little face when eyeing the medal table. Especially after the elimination in the doubles of Federer-Wawrinka, the defending champions. Above all, the Swiss press pointed the finger at Wawrinka, who went to bed around 1:30 am of the eve of the match. And because Stanislas is not happy with it, he re-tweeted Beaud
"
The lack of medal forces Wawrinka to justify his bedtime. It may be that the saddest part of these # JO2012 in Switzerland. "
https://twitter.com/GregBeaud20min/status/231311510327152640
Errani and the American curse
Sara Errani, recent finalist of Roland-Garros, must have a problem with the United States. Indeed the Italian was engaged in three competitions at the Olympics: Ladies Singles, Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Three representatives “made in USA” knocked out the poor girl. Venus Williams easily beat her 6-3, 6-1 in singles. The Williams sisters also knocked out the transalpine duo Errani / Vinci 6-1, 6-1 in doubles. And finally, the Italian said goodbye to Olympus in her mixed doubles duo with Andreas Seppi that was swept away by the pair Huber / M.Bryan in straight sets: 7-5, 6-3. Nice one.
Video: Llodra makes fun of Tsonga
Silver Medallists in doubles, the French duo Tsonga / Llodra is also quite funny. After an easy victory against the Indians Paes / Vardhan, the lefty made fun of Tsonga by imitating his colleague with his famous thumbs' dance. Let's be honest, it's very similar.
http://youtu.be/d7w4I-JLhZk
Federer, totally at home
Before challenging the local icon, Andy Murray, in the final, Federer has measured the progress made since his third place play-off loss against Di Pasquale in Sydney in 2000.
“Now finally true that I have an Olympic singles medal. It's been a long time coming. I was exactly in this situation 12 years ago. Missed the semis against Tommy Haas, lost the bronze medal match. That was a rough turnaround for me, a rough couple matches at the end. But it was a great tournament as a whole in Sydney. I'm happy I took it a step further, have secured a medal now. Plus I have the opportunity for gold. I feel very much at home here at Wimbledon. But that's been the case for a very long time. That's why I know I'm very fortunate, our generation is fortunate, we all are, that the Olympics are taking place at Wimbledon, a place where I have many great memories from.”
Above all, the memory of a loss depriving him of the Olympic gold...
The medals
Men Simple: Gold: Andy Murray. Silver: Roger Federer. Bronze: Juan Martin Del Potro.
Ladies Simple: Gold: Serena Williams. Silver: Maria Sharapova. Bronze: Victoria Azarenka
Men Doubles: Gold: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. Silver: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mickaël Llodra. Bronze: Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau.
Ladies Doubles: Gold: Serena Williams and Venus Williams. Silver: Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká. Bronze: Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova.
Mixed Doubles: Gold: Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka. Silver: Andy Murray and Laura Robson. Bronze: Lisa Raymond and Mike Bryan.
By Mathieu Faure
